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Ketamine Bladder Damage Hits Children Aged Just 13

healthSep 26, 2026·378 words·3 min read

Children as young as 13 are being treated for severe bladder damage caused by recreational ketamine use, according to doctors at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, home to the UK's first specialist clinic for young people with the condition. An analysis of the clinic's first 60 patients, published in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood, found an average age of 14, with patients having used the drug for one to two years on average before referral.

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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