Ketamine abuse in children and young people is on the rise in the UK.
The Alder Hey doctors, external saw one young patient in 2023, nine in 2024, and then “a rapid escalation” in 2025, which led them to open the bespoke clinic in May.
They get about one referral every week from GPs or emergency departments in Cheshire, Merseyside and other nearby regions.
Of the first 60 they saw, 43 were girls.
Despite its name, “ketamine bladder” can affect the entire urinary tract, including the kidneys and ureters.
Symptoms include an urgent and frequent need to urinate. This can be very painful and the pee can be blood-stained.
Although stopping using ketamine can help, sometimes the damage can be so serious that the bladder needs surgical repair or even removal.
Some users experience abdominal pain and spasms, or “K cramps” too.
There are reports that heavy users are getting liver damage, but it is difficult to separate harms from other things people may also be taking, including other street drugs and alcohol.
Isba says cannabis and alcohol are still more popular, but ketamine is “probably up into third place”.
Children at the clinic often say they have also tried other drugs, drank alcohol, and vaped.
About three out of every 10 people who frequently use ketamine get bladder issues, says the British Association of Urological Surgeons, external.
Sometimes it is reversible, if the drug use stops.
Given the risks, there have been calls to reclassify it as a Class A drug – like cocaine and heroin – but the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs has recommended to government that ketamine should remain a Class B controlled substance, like amphetamines and cannabis.
Isba says children are disadvantaged when it comes to accessing services.
“There are definitely some children out there who are under the age of 16 who if they were 18 would be offered an inpatient detox stay. But because we don’t have those facilities in the UK, they are not able to access that and that feels unfair. Particularly for the ones who are ready to stop.”
