- Children as young as 13 are being referred to a specialist Liverpool clinic for ketamine-induced uropathy, a severe bladder condition caused by continuous ketamine use.
- Analysis of the first 60 patients at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust revealed the average age was 14, with roughly two thirds being girls and the roughly the same proportion living in the most deprived areas.
- Nearly three quarters had experienced emotional trauma during childhood, while 16 patients had autism or ADHD, or both, and one in five had experience of the care system.
- Ms Harriet Corbett, consultant paediatric urologist at Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The damage caused by ketamine can be devastating. It can affect the bladder wall, causing ulceration and fibrosis, and the effects can be irreversible.”
- The study, published in Archives of Disease in Childhood, also found that children had been using ketamine for one to two years on average before their referral to the clinic.
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