ANALGESIC EFFECT OF METHADONE OR TRAMADOL ON POSTOPERATIVE

PAIN IN CATS UNDERGOING OVARIOHYSTERECTOMY

OLIVEIRA JP1, ANDRADE IS1, EVANGELISTA MC2, PEREIRA MA3, KEMPER B1, FANTONI DT3, KEMPER DAG1

1Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Norte do Paraná campus Arapongas
2Département de sciences cliniques, Faculté de médecine vétérinaire, Université de Montréal
3Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Universidade de São Paulo

INTRODUCTION RESULTS
Age and weight of the cats, and surgery time were not different between
Methadone and tramadol are widely used to provide analgesia in cats, groups (p > 0.05; Table 1).
however there is limited clinical data regarding the use of methadone and
tramadol in the early postoperative period in cats. GT GM
Age (years) 2.7 ± 2.4 2.4 ± 2.5
In previous clinical studies, methadone provided comparable sedation and Weight (kg) 2.8 ± 0.6 3.0 ± 0.5
analgesia to both buprenorphine and butorphanol when combined with Surgery time (min) 26.1 ± 14.7 26.9 ± 18.1
acepromazine prior to feline neutering; and appeared to be a better Table 1 - Demographics of the cats included in the study. Group
postoperative analgesic than butorphanol, providing effective analgesia for 6 Tramadol (GT, n = 10) and Group Methadone (GM, n = 10)
hours following ovariohysterectomy in cats.1,2 Pain scores were higher in GT than GM according to VAS at 2 hours (p <
Tramadol provided adequate analgesia and it was more effective than 0.05; Figure 2) and according to Glasgow-CMPS at 2, 3 and 4 hours after
pethidine on postoperative pain in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy.3 surgery (p < 0.05; Figure 3).
There were no significant differences between groups using UNESP-
This study aimed to compare tramadol and methadone on postoperative pain Botucatu Composite Pain Scale (Figure 4) and Colorado Feline Acute Pain
in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy. Scale (Figure 5).

*
*

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Glasgow-CMPS score
*
VAS score

Ethics committee protocol number: 19/16 – CEUA UNOPAR. *

Animals and groups: Twenty client-owned healthy cats submitted to

ovariohysterectomy were randomly assigned into two groups. GM received
methadone (n = 10; 0.3 mg/kg) and GT received tramadol (n = 10; 2 mg/kg);
all intravenously at the end of surgery.
Anesthetic protocol: The animals received acepromazine (0.15 mg/kg IM) as Figure 2 - Boxplots showing VAS scores from cats in Figure 3 - Boxplots showing Glasgow-CMPS scores
tramadol (GT) and methadone (GM) groups 1 to 6 from cats in tramadol (GT) and methadone (GM)
pre-anesthetic medication. Anesthesia was induced with propofol (10 mg/kg hours postoperatively. * = p < 0.05 groups 1 to 6 hours postoperatively. * = p < 0.05
IV) and maintained with isoflurane. Perioperative analgesia was achieved
with fentanyl bolus (3 μg/kg) administered prior the incision and as needed
during surgery.
UNESP-Botucatu score

Colorado score

Parameters: Physiologic parameters and pain were evaluated hourly up to 6

hours after extubation using four pain scales (Figure 1):
Visual Analogue Scale (VAS)
Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (Glasgow-CMPS)4
UNESP-Botucatu Composite Pain Scale5
Colorado Feline Acute Pain Scale6
Figure 4 - Boxplots showing UNESP-Botucatu Figure 5 - Boxplots showing Colorado scores from
scores from cats in tramadol (GT) and methadone
a

cats in tramadol (GT) and methadone (GM) groups

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Admission Surgery - OVH Discharge Five cats in GT and three cats in GM required rescue analgesia (Table 2).
T 1h T 2h T 3h T 4h T 5h T 6h Total
Figure 1 – Timeline of the study. Treatments = tramadol 2 mg/kg (GT; n=10) or methadone GT 0 2 1 0 1 0 5
0.2 mg/kg (GM; n=10) GM 0 1 1 0 1 0 3

Table 2 – Distribution of the number of cats receiving rescue analgesia according to

Rescue analgesia: Animals receiving scores equal or higher than 8 in the the timepoints in each group
UNESP-Botucatu pain scale were administered analgesic rescue. The drug
administered was morphine 0.1 mg/kg IM. Meloxicam (0.1 mg/kg) was Seven animals in GM and one in GT presented apnea and bradycardia
administered to all cats at the end of the study. shortly after drug administration.
Statistical analysis: Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests were used for
between- and within-group comparisons. CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES Methadone provided superior analgesia than tramadol on postoperative

pain in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy.
1. Bortolami E et al. Methadone in combination with acepromazine as premedication prior to neutering in
the cat. Vet Anaesth Analg 2013; 40(2):181-93. The potential for respiratory depression and bradycardia may preclude
2. Warne LN et al. Comparison of perioperative analgesic efficacy between methadone and butorphanol in methadone use by intravenous route in anesthetized cats.
cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2013; 243(6):844-50.
3. Evangelista MC et al. Comparison of preoperative tramadol and pethidine on postoperative pain in cats
undergoing ovariohysterectomy. BMC Vet Res. 2014; 10:252.
4. Reid J et al. Definitive Glasgow Acute Pain Scale for Cats: validation and intervention level. Veterinary
Record 2017; 108(18): 449.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
5. Brondani JT, et al. Validation of the English version of the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite
pain scale for assessing postoperative pain in cats. BMC Veterinary Research 2013; 9:143. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital of UNOPAR-Arapongas for the support
6. Hellyer PW et al. Canine Acute Pain Scale and Feline Acute Pain Scale, Colorado State University for the study.
Veterinary Medical Center: Fort Collins CO; 2006.