Ketamine Bladder Damage Hits Children Aged Just 13

Ketamine, a general anaesthetic, has become a popular street drug in Britain. Professor Rachel Isba, who runs the clinic, told the BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) it is "pocket-money level" cheap and is probably now the third most popular substance among young people, after cannabis and alcohol. The hospital saw one young patient in 2023 and nine in 2024, before a sharp rise in 2025 prompted it to open the clinic that May; it now receives roughly one referral a week. The analysis suggests drug use rarely happens in isolation: 72% of the patients had experienced emotional trauma in childhood, 16 had autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or both, and one in five had been in the care system. Some children, Isba added, get trapped in a "K loop", taking the drug to numb the very pain it causes.

Harriet Corbett, a consultant paediatric urologist at the hospital, warned that the damage can be "devastating" and even irreversible, scarring the bladder wall and, in severe cases, requiring major surgery or dialysis. Some patients compare urinating to passing broken glass; others need incontinence pads. Stopping ketamine can help, and the damage is sometimes reversible; the clinic takes a non-judgmental approach to helping young people quit. However, Isba said under-16s in the UK cannot access inpatient detox, which some older patients are offered. Despite calls to reclassify ketamine as a Class A drug like cocaine, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) has recommended it remain Class B. Corbett stressed the problem "is preventable".