Ketobemidone
Pronunciation:KEET-ah-behm-ih-dohn
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:469-79-4
Formal Names:Cetobemidone, Ketogan
Type:Depressant (opioid class).Seepage 24
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule I (DEA no. 9628)
USA Availability:Illegal to possess
Pregnancy Category:None
Uses.This substance has no authorized medical use in the United States.
Elsewhere, since the 1950s it has been used as a pain reliever for surgery,
cancer, and other conditions. Figures for total legal usage of opioids/opiates
in Denmark from 1981 to 1993 showed onlymorphineandmethadonewere
used more than ketobemidone.
In an experiment ketobemidone caused less breathing difficulty than did
buprenorphine(another opioid used for pain relief). Patients who receive
morphine chronically may develop muscle twitches and experience more pain
rather than less. After studying that problem one group of researchers rec-
ommended that such patients be switched to ketobemidone, methadone, su-
fentanil, orfentanyl. A case report indicates ketobemidone works in such a
switch. Despite the drug’s usefulness for pain relief, test results conflict on
whether it is better than a placebo for easing anxiety before surgery.
Drawbacks. Unwanted effects include shivering, coughing, nausea, and
vomiting. Pain may cause vomiting, so paradoxically ketobemidone can also
prevent vomiting through pain relief. A study noted that ketobemidone low-
ers blood pressure, but not as much as morphine does.
Abuse factors.Although illicit use of this drug has received little attention
in the United States, ketobemidone has been a prominent substance in the
abuse scenes of Scandinavian countries. The drug is available in a pharma-
ceutical intravenous format, but some illicit users crush oral tablets containing
ketobemidone and inject the powder. That practice is suspected of harming
eyesight. The same practice can cause skin to harden around injection sites
and also break open into sores. In one report of several such cases medical
personnel expressed puzzlement that the ketobemidone users acted like they
felt no discomfort and were unconcerned about skin conditions that would
prompt most persons to seek immediate medical aid. Such indifference about