Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain relief without opioids for cats spayed with ketamine protocol
By Diep, Truc Ngoc et al.·Published in The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne·2020·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Anesthetic and analgesic effects of an opioid-free, injectable protocol in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy: A prospective, blinded, randomized clinical trial.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats undergoing spay surgery (ovariohysterectomy) were given a combination of medications that did not include opioids to manage pain and anesthesia. The cats received a mix of ketamine, midazolam, and dexmedetomidine, along with additional pain relief after surgery. While most adult cats still needed extra pain relief with opioids, kittens generally required less. Some cats experienced breathing issues during recovery, but overall, the opioid-free approach showed promise, especially for younger cats.
People also search for: cat spay surgery pain management · opioid-free anesthesia for cats · kitten recovery after spay surgery
Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of ketamine-dexmedetomidine-midazolam as part of an opioid-free, multimodal protocol in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy. In a prospective, blinded, randomized clinical trial, cats received either 1 of 2 doses of ketamine [5 mg/kg body weight (BW),= 10, K5 or 7 mg/kg BW,= 13, K7] with midazolam (0.25 mg/kg BW) and dexmedetomidine (40 μg/kg BW) intramuscularly, intraperitoneal bupivacaine (2 mg/kg BW) and subcutaneous meloxicam (0.2 mg/kg BW) after surgery. Buprenorphine (0.02 mg/kg BW, intravenously) was administered if pain scores exceeded intervention scores with 2 pain scoring systems. Similar prevalence of rescue analgesia was observed (K5 = 6/10; K7 = 7/13) with significantly lower requirements in kittens (2/8) than adults (11/15). Tachypnea (K5 = 7/10 and K7 = 9/13) and desaturation (K5 = 3/10 and K7 = 4/13) were the 2 most common complications. Age influenced the prevalence of rescue analgesia. Most adult cats required opioids for postoperative pain relief.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32675814/