Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How maropitant and acupuncture reduce morphine vomiting in dogs
By Koh, Ronald B et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2014·Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of maropitant, acepromazine, and electroacupuncture on vomiting associated with administration of morphine in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs receiving morphine for pain management experienced nausea and vomiting, which can be common side effects of the medication. Researchers tested different treatments, including maropitant, acepromazine, and electroacupuncture, to see which could help reduce these symptoms. They found that maropitant significantly lowered the number of dogs that vomited compared to a saline solution, while acepromazine helped prevent worsening nausea. Overall, maropitant was the most effective in reducing vomiting, and acepromazine also showed benefits in managing nausea without increasing sedation.
People also search for: dog vomiting after morphine · maropitant for dog nausea · acepromazine side effects in dogs
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate effects of maropitant, acepromazine, and electroacupuncture on morphine-related signs of nausea and vomiting in dogs and assess sedative effects of the treatments. DESIGN: Randomized controlled clinical trial. ANIMALS: 222 dogs. PROCEDURES: Dogs received 1 of 6 treatments: injection of saline (0.9% NaCl) solution, maropitant citrate, or acepromazine maleate or electroacupuncture treatment at 1 acupoint, 5 acupoints, or a sham acupoint. Morphine was administered after 20 minutes of electroacupuncture treatment or 20 minutes after injectable treatment. Vomiting and retching events and signs of nausea and sedation were recorded. RESULTS: Incidence of vomiting and retching was significantly lower in the maropitant (14/37 [37.8%]) group than in the saline solution (28/37 [75.7%]) and sham-acupoint electroacupuncture (32/37 [86.5%]) groups. The number of vomiting and retching events in the maropitant (21), acepromazine (38), 1-acupoint (35), and 5-acupoint (34) groups was significantly lower than in the saline solution (88) and sham-acupoint electroacupuncture (109) groups. Incidence of signs of nausea was significantly lower in the acepromazine group (3/37 [8.1%]) than in the sham-acupoint group (15/37 [40.5%]). Mean nausea scores for the saline solution, maropitant, and sham-acupoint electroacupuncture groups increased significantly after morphine administration, whereas those for the acepromazine, 1-acupoint electroacupuncture, and 5-acupoint electroacupuncture groups did not. Mean sedation scores after morphine administration were significantly higher in dogs that received acepromazine than in dogs that received saline solution, maropitant, and sham-acupoint electroacupuncture treatment. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Maropitant treatment was associated with a lower incidence of vomiting and retching, compared with control treatments, and acepromazine and electroacupuncture appeared to prevent an increase in severity of nausea following morphine administration in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24649993/