Evaluation of haematological and serum biochemical changes associated with constant rate infusion tramadol hydrochloride as an adjunct to ketoprofen in laparotomized and ovariohysterectomized dogs

Tramadol hydrochloride (an opioid-like analgesic) and ketoprofen (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) are routinely used in human and veterinary medicine for the management of post-surgical pain. However, data on the safety of constant rate infusion tramadol as an adjunct to ketoprofen for peri-operative analgesia is lacking. This study evaluated changes in haematology and serum biochemistry associated with constant rate infusion (CRI) tramadol hydrochloride as an adjunct to ketoprofen for analgesia in adult female dogs following laparotomy (LP) and ovariohysterectomy (OVH). Thirty (30) adult female dogs randomly assigned into six groups of five dogs each were used in studies 1 and 2. In both studies, group 3 served as the control which received normal saline while groups 1 and 2 were given 1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg/h of tramadol Hcl, respectively. Dogs in study 1 were laparotomized while OVH was performed on dogs in study 2. Ketoprofen (4 mg/kg) was given subcutaneously for 3 days post-surgery (PS) to all the groups. There was no significant difference in the haematological parameters of treated and control groups. There was a transient significant rise in some serum biochemical parameters of the treated groups but these decreased to baseline values by day 7 post-surgery. Based on the findings in this study, it was concluded that constant rate infusion of 1 and 2 mg/kg/h of tramadol hydrochloride as an adjunct to ketoprofen caused no clinically observable deleterious effect on haematology and serum biochemistry of dogs post-laparotomy and ovariohysterectomy.