Ketamine: The Car, the Sunset, and the Grateful Dead

• Dr. Jeffrey Swisher describes ketamine's effects, drawing parallels to near-death experiences and out-of-body sensations.
• He recounts a patient's vivid description of a ketamine experience: driving towards a sunset with the Grateful Dead playing, then becoming the car, and finally being a passenger.
• This illustrates the dissociative feeling, often described as a 'melting' sensation or falling into a 'K-hole'.
• While generally pleasant and euphoric, ketamine can sometimes cause frightening dreams, but it remains a popular anesthetic, particularly for procedures like hip fracture repair where it offers pain relief and a positive patient experience.