Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain control in adult cats having spay surgery
By Rufiange, Maxime et al.·Published in Frontiers in veterinary science·2022·Department of Clinical Sciences, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: A randomized, prospective, masked clinical trial comparing an opioid-free vs. opioid-sparing anesthetic technique in adult cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 27 healthy cats undergoing spay surgery (ovariohysterectomy) were given either an opioid-free pain management approach or one that included an opioid. The cats that received the opioid-free method had higher pain scores after surgery, indicating they may have felt more discomfort compared to those who received the opioid. However, the opioid group required less rescue pain medication afterward, suggesting that the opioid helped manage their pain effectively. Overall, while the opioid-free method can work for some cats, using an opioid like buprenorphine provided better pain control after surgery.
People also search for: cat spay surgery pain management · opioid-free anesthesia for cats · buprenorphine for cat pain relief
Abstract
This study aimed to compare the analgesic effects of an injectable protocol using multimodal analgesia with or without opioids in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy (OVH). Thirty-two healthy cats were enrolled in a prospective, blinded, randomized trial after the caregiver's written consent. Cats received a combination of ketamine (4 mg/kg), midazolam (0.25 mg/kg) and dexmedetomidine (40 μg/kg), and either buprenorphine (20 μg/kg) or saline (same volume as buprenorphine) intramuscularly [opioid-sparing (OSA) and opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) groups, respectively]. Intraperitoneal bupivacaine 0.25% (2 mg/kg) and meloxicam (0.2 mg/kg subcutaneously) were administered before OVH. Atipamezole (400 μg/kg intramuscularly) was administered at the end of surgery. Pain and sedation were evaluated using the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) and a dynamic interactive visual analog scale, respectively. Intravenous buprenorphine was administered as rescue analgesia if FGS scores ≥ 0.39/1. Statistical analysis included repeated measures linear mixed models, Fisher's exact test and Bonferroni adjustments when appropriate (< 0.05). Twenty-seven cats were included. The prevalence of rescue analgesia was lower in OSA (= 0/13) than in OFA (= 5/14) (= 0.04). The FGS scores (least square means and 95% CI) were higher in OFA at 1 [2.0 (1.3-2.7)] and 2 h [2.2 (1.5-2.9)] than baseline [0.7 (0.0-1.4)], but not in OSA. Sedation scores were not significantly different between groups. Opioid-free injectable anesthesia was appropriate for some cats using a multimodal approach. However, a single dose of intramuscular buprenorphine eliminated the need for rescue analgesia and assured adequate pain management after OVH in cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36439352/