Ketamine is described as which type of agent?

• A. A depolarizing neuromuscular blocker.
• B. A dissociative anesthetic drug that acts as an NMDA receptor antagonist and provides analgesia, anesthesia, and amnesia.
• C. A pure sedative with no analgesic properties.
• D. An inhaled anesthetic.

Answer: (B)

Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that works by blocking NMDA receptors, which reduces excitatory glutamate signaling in the brain. This NMDA receptor antagonism produces a dissociative state while delivering analgesia, anesthesia, and amnesia. Because of these multimodal effects, it is not a depolarizing neuromuscular blocker, which would cause paralysis, nor a pure sedative with no analgesia. It isn’t an inhaled anesthetic either, since it’s typically given IV or IM and has a distinctive dissociative anesthesia profile.