ABSTRACT

Objectives: The objective of the study was to assess the effectiveness of intravenous tramadol in controlling post anesthetic shivering and to assess which of the dose of drug is safe and effective.

Material and Methods: In this study we included 120 patients age >18 years of ASA class I & II who underwent any surgical procedure under spinal/general anesthesia. Patients were divided into 3 groups of equal size of 40 subjects. Group A; in these patients tramadol 0.25 mg/kg I/V was given for shivering management. Group B; in these patients Tramadol 0.5 mg/kg I/V was given and Group C (control group); in these patients normal saline 0.05 ml/kg I/V was given. The adequate control of shivering was the main study objective. Side effects of tramadol at different doses were also observed.

Results: At five minutes, Grade 0,1 and 2 shivering were observed in 23 patients in group A and 31 patients in group B while in group C grade 3 and 4 shivering were observed. High grade (3 and 4) shivering were significantly high in group C than group A and B (p-value= 0.005). Similarly, at 10 minutes, grade 3 and 4 shivering were significantly high in group C than group A and B (p-value 0.005).

Conclusion: IV 0.25 mg/Kg is an effective option for control of post-anesthesia shivering with minimal side effect profile. So low dose tramadol can be used as a first option for post-anesthesia shivering control.