ANALGESIC EFFECT OF PREMEDICATION WITH TRAMADOL OR BUTORPHANOL IN DOGS UNDERGOING OSTEOSYNTHESIS

Summary The research was carried on 17 adult dogs underwent osteosynthesis. In the anesthetic premedication were included butorphanol + acepromazine + ketamine (group B) or tramadol + acepromazine + ketamine (group T). Induction and maintenance of anesthesia was the same for both groups. Post-operative analgesia was assessed using a dynamic interactive visual analogue scale. Rescue analgesia was provided with butorphanol or tramadol. Orthopedic procedures cause severe and prolonged pain and to provide an adequate level of comfort more rescue analgesia were necessary to dogs in group B compared with dogs in group T. Key words: analgesia, butorphanol, tramadol, osteosynthesis, dog. Providing analgesia in orthopaedic intervention is a constant and important concern, having a direct reflection on postoperative evolution. Arrangements for obtaining it are numerous and are based on many types of pharmacological agents. Tramadol is a centrally acting analgesic, and is increasingly used for analgesia in dogs. It has only recently gained significant attention as an analgesic in dogs despite its having been used in humans in Germany since 1977 and in North America since the mid 1980’s (2). Butorphanol is frequently used to provide analgesia in small animal practice, but the results regarding the efficacy of pain control are different (3). The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of premedication with tramadol or butorphanol on post-operative pain following osteosynthesis in dogs.