Abstract
Background: Ketamine is a substance that is commonly abused, especially in young adults. Blood and urinary ketamine profiles are important for the interpretation of causes of death. Objective: To compare blood and urinary ketamine profiles between different causes of death in Thai postmortem cases.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 40 Thai postmortem cases whose urine samples tested positive for ketamine. Sex, age, cause of death, manner of death, blood alcohol concentration (BAC), and concomitant drugs found with ketamine in subjects were recorded for each case. Blood and urinary ketamine and its two metabolites (norketamine and dehydronorketamine (DHNK)) were analyzed using liquid chromatography quadrupole Time-of-Flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF/MS). Statistical analysis was performed using the Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis H test.
Results: There were 11 female and 29 male subjects with a mean age of 29.63 years old. Causes of death were classified into three groups: road traffic injury (RTI), drug intoxication, and non-RTI groups. The blood ketamine concentration in the non-RTI group was significantly higher than that in the RTI and drug intoxication groups (p
Conclusion: The cause of death and subject’s sex had an effect on blood and urinary concentrations of ketamine and its metabolites found in Thai postmortem cases.
DOI
10.56808/2673-060X.5575
Recommended Citation
Leungsukjaroen, Supanida; Khawthong, Sunitda; and Phuangphung, Peerayuht
(2025)
"Comparison of blood and urinary ketamine profiles among different causes of death in Thai postmortem cases,"
Chulalongkorn Medical Journal: Vol. 69:
Iss.
4, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56808/2673-060X.5575
Available at:
https://digital.car.chula.ac.th/clmjournal/vol69/iss4/6