Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain relief after surgery in cats: buprenorphine vs butorphanol study
By Taylor, Polly M et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2010·Taylor Monroe, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A prospective multi-centre clinical trial to compare buprenorphine and butorphanol for postoperative analgesia in cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
One hundred fifty-three cats that had surgery were given either buprenorphine or butorphanol to manage their pain afterward. The results showed that more cats felt no pain (pain score 0) after receiving buprenorphine compared to those given butorphanol, especially at 2 and 24 hours after surgery. By 24 hours, 83% of the cats on buprenorphine were pain-free, while only 63% of those on butorphanol were. Overall, buprenorphine was found to be more effective for longer-lasting pain relief after surgery.
People also search for: cat surgery pain relief · buprenorphine for cats · butorphanol side effects in cats
Abstract
One hundred and fifty-three cats undergoing surgery in seven veterinary practices in Great Britain were studied. They were randomly allocated to receive either 10-20 microg/kg buprenorphine or 0.4 mg/kg butorphanol with acepromazine before anaesthesia with propofol, Saffan or thiopentone and isoflurane or halothane. Routine monitoring was undertaken. Pain and sedation were assessed blind using a four point (0-3) simple descriptive scale (SDS) at 1, 2, 4, 8 and 24h. Pain and sedation data were compared using non-parametric statistical tests and continuous data using t tests or analysis of variance (ANOVA). Anaesthesia and surgery were uneventful, and cardiorespiratory data were within normal limits. After surgery, overall, more cats had pain score 0 after buprenorphine and more had pain score 3 after butorphanol (P=0.0465). At individual time points, more cats had lower pain scores after buprenorphine at 2 (P=0.040) and 24 (P=0.036)h. At 24h 83% after buprenorphine and 63% after butorphanol had pain score 0 (P<0.04). Buprenorphine provided better and longer lasting postoperative analgesia than butorphanol.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19836984/