Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
High-dose buprenorphine linked to longer fever after spay in cats
By Cannarozzo, Cheyenne J et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2021·Cornell University Hospital for Animals, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Retrospective investigation of an association between high-dose buprenorphine and perpetuation of post-anesthesia hyperthermia in cats following ovariohysterectomy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of cats undergoing spay surgery (ovariohysterectomy) experienced higher body temperatures after receiving a high dose of buprenorphine for pain relief compared to those given morphine. The cats that received buprenorphine had a 73% chance of developing hyperthermia (elevated body temperature) lasting up to 20 hours after surgery, while only 56% of those given morphine experienced this issue. This suggests that while buprenorphine is effective for pain management, it may lead to prolonged hyperthermia in cats. If your cat has had surgery and is feeling warm for an extended period, it’s worth discussing their pain medication with your veterinarian.
People also search for: cat spay surgery recovery · cat pain medication side effects · why is my cat hot after surgery
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We evaluated a potential association between the administration of high-dose buprenorphine and perpetuation of hyperthermia in cats following ovariohysterectomy (OVH). We hypothesized that buprenorphine 0.24 mg/kg subcutaneously (SC) would result in longer-lasting postoperative hyperthermia in cats vs a group receiving morphine 0.1 mg/kg SC. METHODS: Anesthetic records from cats admitted for OVH as part of surgical exercises for second year veterinary medicine students in 2018 and 2019 were collected. All cats were sedated with dexmedetomidine 20 µg/kg and morphine 0.1 mg/kg intramuscularly. Anesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. At extubation, cats received morphine 0.1 mg/kg SC in 2018 and buprenorphine 0.24 mg/kg SC in 2019. Temperature was measured rectally prior to sedation, esophageally during anesthesia and rectally at 1, 4 and 16-20 h after extubation. Demographic data and temperature prior to administration of postoperative opioids were compared with-tests. The effects of treatment (opioids) and time on postoperative rectal temperature and on the incidence of hyperthermia (temperature >39.2°C) were evaluated with mixed and generalized linear mixed-effect models. Significance was set at<0.05. RESULTS: There were no differences in demographic characteristics between treatment groups (all ⩾0.2). Intraoperative esophageal temperature was lower in cats scheduled to receive morphine (mean ± SD 36.6 ± 0.2) than in those receiving buprenorphine (36.9 ± 1.0) (<0.0001). Postoperative temperature was higher for cats receiving buprenorphine than for those receiving morphine (<0.0001). The incidence of hyperthermia 16-20 h after opioid administration was 56% for morphine and 73% for buprenorphine ( = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Buprenorphine 0.24 mg/kg SC for postoperative analgesia in cats was associated with hyperthermia that persisted for 16-20 h after administration, and the incidence of hyperthermia for this group was higher than in the cats that received morphine 0.1 mg/kg SC.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33269621/