[Ketamine: drug facts, uses in anesthesia, and new applications for analgesia].

: Ketamine is an anesthetic drug of choice in tropical zones. In addition to excellent pharmocologic properties and low cost, it offers the possibility of using a variety of administration routes and of performing invasive procedures with spontaneous ventilation. Adverse psychodysleptic effects can be prevented by association with midazolam or propofol. Hypersalivation can be prevented with atropine. Recent experience has shown that thanks to its antihyperalgesic effects ketamine can be used for postoperative analgesia at doses ten times lower than for anesthesia.