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Ketamine Damages Bladders of Children Aged Just 13

healthSep 26, 2026·293 words·3 min read

Children as young as 13 are being treated for serious bladder damage caused by the drug ketamine, say doctors at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool. It runs Britain's first specialist clinic for young people with this condition. A study of its first 60 patients found that their average age was 14 and that they had used ketamine for one to two years on average before being referred.

Doctors use ketamine to stop pain during operations, but some people take it as an illegal drug. It is very cheap. Professor Rachel Isba runs the clinic. She says it is probably now the third most popular drug among young people. The hospital saw one young patient in 2023, but many more came in 2025, so it opened the clinic that May. Many of the children have had difficult lives.

Harriet Corbett, a doctor at the hospital, says the damage can be very bad and may never go away. In the worst cases, patients need a big operation. Some say using the toilet feels like broken glass. Stopping ketamine can help, and the clinic supports young people without judging them. Corbett says the problem can be prevented.

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