The effects of different doses of tramadol on analgesia and electroencephalographic (EEG) spectral parameters were compared in rats. Saline or tramadol 5, 10, 20 or 40 mg/kg was administered. The degree of analgesia was evaluated by tail-flick latency, and the degree of seizure was measured using numerical seizure score (NSS). Additionally, band powers, median power frequency and spectral edge frequency 95 were measured to quantify the EEG response. All doses of tramadol produced spike-wave discharge. Tramadol significantly and dose-dependently increased the analgesia, but these effects did not correspond with the changes in the EEG spectral parameters. NSS significantly increased in the Tramadol 20 and 40 mg/kg treatment groups compared to the Control and TRA5 groups, and two rats given 40 mg/kg had convulsions. In conclusion, tramadol dose-dependently increased the analgesic effect, and the 10 mg/kg dose appears to be a reliable clinical dose for analgesia in rats, but dose-dependent increases in analgesia and seizure severity did not correlate with EEG spectral parameters.
Analgesia ; Animals ; Electroencephalography ; Rats ; Seizures ; Tramadol

BACKGROUND: We wanted to determine the postoperative analgesic efficacy of preincisional caudal epidural block versus instillation (splash block) following inguinal herniorrhaphy in children. METHODS: Thirty children (age range: 1-7 years) who were scheduled to undergo inguinal herniorrhaphy were divided into 2 groups: the caudal block group and the splash block group with 15 children in each group. Tracheal intubation was performed. Fifteen children received caudal block with 1.0 ml/kg of 0.25% ropivacaine (Group 1). Caudal block was performed using the loss of resistance method via the sacral hiatus. Fifteen children in Group 2 received local instillation (splash block) in the surgical site with up to 0.4 ml/kg of 0.25% ropivacaine. The patients were observed for 90 minutes in the postanesthesia care unit and then they were transferred to the ward. The pain scores were taken 4 times. We assessed pain using the Faces pain scores. RESULTS: There were no significant differences between the groups regarding the pain scores at 10, 30 and 60 minutes upon entering the postanesthesia care unit. The pain scores of Group 1 were slightly lower at the last evaluation point when compared to that of Group 2. One patient in Group 1 required supplemental postoperative intravenous (IV) tramadol, while all the other patients in both groups did not require supplemental IV tramadol. The intraoperative requirement for sevoflurane was decreased in Group 1 as compared to that of Group 2. There were no major complications related to either type of block. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that a splash block can have a similar analgesic effect as that of a caudal block for the postoperative herniorrhaphy pain of children.
Amides ; Analgesia ; Child ; Herniorrhaphy ; Humans ; Intubation ; Methyl Ethers ; Tramadol

BACKGROUND: Tramadol is a centrally acting analgesic with weak opioid agonist properties and has effect on the spinal inhibition of pain. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of tramadol in the treatment of postanesthetic shivering. METHODS: Sixty patients (ASA class I/II) who showed postanesthetic shivering were randomly assigned into three groups (n=20): Normal saline group; normal saline 10 ml, tramadol (TRD) 0.5 mg/kg group; tramadol 0.5 mg/kg, TRD 1.0 mg/kg group; tramadol 1.0 mg/kg. And all patients received standard postoperative management in the recovery room. Evaluation of the grade of shivering was done at 30 seconds, 2, 5 and 10 minutes from the beginning of the treatment by the same investigator who had injected the drug. The age, sex, weight, duration of anesthesia and axillary temperature were recorded. RESULTS: By 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes, 0, 4, 9, 9 patients of the 0.5 mg/kg tramadol group (n=20) and 7, 18, 19, 19 patients of the 1.0 mg/kg tramadol group (n=20) stopped the shivering respectively. But in 3 patients of 0.5 mg/kg tramadol group who stopped shivering by 5 minutes, shivering was recurred within 10 minutes and in 3 patients who had not stopped shivering by 5 minutes, shivering stopped by 10 minutes. In the placebo group, only 1 patient stopped shivering by 5 minutes. CONCLUSION: 1.0 mg/kg of tramadol was effective for the treatment of postanesthetic shivering but 0.5 mg/kg of tramadol was ineffective.
Anesthesia ; Humans ; Recovery Room ; Research Personnel ; Shivering* ; Tramadol*

BACKGROUND: Tramadol is a centrally acting analgesic with weak opioid agonist properties and has effect on the spinal inhibition of pain. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of tramadol in the treatment of postanesthetic shivering. METHODS: Sixty patients (ASA class I/II) who showed postanesthetic shivering were randomly assigned into three groups (n=20): Normal saline group; normal saline 10 ml, tramadol (TRD) 0.5 mg/kg group; tramadol 0.5 mg/kg, TRD 1.0 mg/kg group; tramadol 1.0 mg/kg. And all patients received standard postoperative management in the recovery room. Evaluation of the grade of shivering was done at 30 seconds, 2, 5 and 10 minutes from the beginning of the treatment by the same investigator who had injected the drug. The age, sex, weight, duration of anesthesia and axillary temperature were recorded. RESULTS: By 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, and 10 minutes, 0, 4, 9, 9 patients of the 0.5 mg/kg tramadol group (n=20) and 7, 18, 19, 19 patients of the 1.0 mg/kg tramadol group (n=20) stopped the shivering respectively. But in 3 patients of 0.5 mg/kg tramadol group who stopped shivering by 5 minutes, shivering was recurred within 10 minutes and in 3 patients who had not stopped shivering by 5 minutes, shivering stopped by 10 minutes. In the placebo group, only 1 patient stopped shivering by 5 minutes. CONCLUSION: 1.0 mg/kg of tramadol was effective for the treatment of postanesthetic shivering but 0.5 mg/kg of tramadol was ineffective.
Anesthesia ; Humans ; Recovery Room ; Research Personnel ; Shivering* ; Tramadol*

STUDY DESIGN: A single center, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Ultracet(TM) compared with a placebo in the treatment of acute pain after spinal surgery. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: Ultracet(TM) is a combination drug of Tramadol and Acetaminophen, and the synergistic effect in pain control was demonstrated by animal experiments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-six patients who satisfied the selection and exclusion criteria after spinal surgery were enrolled in this study. The patients measured perceptible pain relief time and meaningful pain relief time using a two stopwatch technique. The pain intensity (PI) and pain relief (PAR) were recorded at 30 minutes and then hourly over a 4 hour period, and the pain intensity difference (PID), the sum of the pain intensity difference (SPID), and the total pain relief (TOPAR) were also checked. RESULTS: The study and control group comprised of 56 and 20 patients, respectively. The baseline pain intensity was an average of 5.9+/-1.2 in the study group and 6.1+/-1.4 in the control group (p=0.683). The final pain intensity was 2.5+/-2.4 and 4.1+/-2.2 in the study and control group, respectively. The study group was superior to placebo (p=0.008). In addition, the study group was statistically superior in terms of the PID (p=0.025), SPID (p=0.028), and TOPAR (p=0.048), particularly over 2 hours, as well as the overall assessment (p=0.005). The median time of the meaningful pain relief time was 90 and 193 minutes in the study and control group, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The analgesic efficacy of Ultracet(TM) was superior to the placebo on the SPID, TOPAR, and the subjects' overall assessments over the 4 hour observation period. These results suggest that Ultracet(TM) is an effective therapeutic option for the management of acute pain after spinal surgery without serious complications.
Acetaminophen ; Acute Pain* ; Animal Experimentation ; Humans ; Spinal Diseases ; Tramadol

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis on the efficacy of ondemand tramadol for the treatment of lifelong premature ejaculation.

METHODS: A systematic review and meta-analysis with metaregression of trials evaluating the use of tramadol to treat premature ejaculation using intravaginal ejaculation latency time as a measure.Relevant studies were identified using PubMed, Ebscohost,MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Collaboration Library.

RESULTS: This analysis included 8 publications. Study of the intravaginal ejaculation latency time (IELT) among 599 patients showed that tramadol was effective in subjects with premature ejaculation as seen by the significant difference in mean IELT of tramadol treated patients versus those receiving placebo (mean difference 2.43 minutes; 95% CI 0.93-3.93; P=0.002). The effect on IELT between tramadol and paroxetine was not statistically significant (mean difference -0.58; 95% CI -5.81 to 4.65; P=0.83).Meta-regression analysis showed that the lower the dose of tramadol,the higher its benefit in the prolongation of IELT, however, there was no significant difference (95% CI regression coefficient -0.0956 to 0.0322). There was a significant difference in adverse effects profile of tramadol versus placebo (risk ratio 2.48; 95% CI 1.55-3.98; overall effect Z= 3.79; P<0.0002) and overall therapeutic effectiveness between tramadol compared to placebo (risk ratio 0.55; 95% CI 0.46-0.67; P<0.00001).

CONCLUSION: On-demand tramadol is an effective treatment for lifelong premature ejaculation. It significantly prolongs the intravaginal ejaculation latency time. The overall adverse events and overall therapeutic effectiveness are significantly greater during treatment with tramadol.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous injection of rocuronium produces intense discomfort at the site of injection in conscious patients. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of intravenous ondansetron, lidocaine, and tramadol for minimizing pain caused by the injection of rocuronium. METHODS: One hundred twenty patients were randomly assigned four groups. Before general anesthesia was induced with thiopental sodium (5 mg/kg), manual occlusion (70 mmHg) with tourniquet of venous inflow was performed. The patients were given saline 4 ml (Group 1, n = 30), ondansetron 8 mg (Group 2, n = 30), lidocaine 60 mg (Group 3, n = 30), or tramadol 50 mg (Group 4, n = 30) diluted into a 4 ml solution. The occlusion was released after 20 seconds and rocuronium was injected over 10 15 seconds. The patients were asked immediately if they had pain in the arm, and the response was assessed. The pain response to rocuronium injection was graded with using Memis' 4-point scale. The side effects were recorded for 24 hours after administration of rocuronium. RESULTS: There were no difference among groups in respect of age, weight, and gender (P < 0.05). Lidocaine reduced the incidence of rocuronium injection pain but ondansetron and tramadol did not (P < 0.05). Ondansetron, lidocaine, and tramadol reduced the severity of rocuronium injection pain (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: I conclude that lidocaine is the most effective among these drugs in the prevention of rocuronium injection pain.
Anesthesia, General ; Arm ; Humans ; Incidence ; Injections, Intravenous ; Lidocaine* ; Ondansetron* ; Thiopental ; Tourniquets ; Tramadol*

Recently introduced tramadol structually similar to morphine, was a new category in analgesia. Also it was reported that that drug could be used in the shale of balanced anesthesia. So we carried out the experiment for evaluation of its effect on sympathoa-drenal system activity, indexed by plasma epinephrine and norepinephrine levels, to compare with other methods of balanced techniques in 18 Patients. Patients in group 1 who received Thalamonal-N2O-O2, patients in group 2 were given pethidine. diazepam-N2O-O2, patients in group 3 were tramadol. diase7am-N2O-O7, Venous samples were obtained before induction of anesthesia, after induction but before skin incision and immediately after skin incision. Sequential results of plasma epinephrine(pg/ml)were 62.0+16.8(mean+s.e.), 134.3+18.7, 127.3+26.2 in group 1, 65.8+13.1, 79.7+13.1, 91.3+22.5 in group 2 and 74.0+24.9, 88.0+17. 1, 108.4+23.2 in group 3. Values of norepinephrine(pg/ml) were 212.5+27.1, 167.7+23.9, 236.2+34.4 in group 1, 213.8+59.1, 162.0+33.2, 246.8+55.7 in group 2 and 236.0+39.6, 197.7+59.4, 208.4+25.6 in group 3. Those values did not differ significantly between three groups. Theae data revealed that this method of balanced anesthesia using tramadol could effectively block the sympathetic response to anesthestic and surgical stress as other method of balanced techniques.
Analgesia ; Anesthesia ; Balanced Anesthesia* ; Catecholamines* ; Epinephrine ; Humans ; Meperidine ; Morphine ; Norepinephrine ; Plasma* ; Skin ; Tramadol*

We report a young man who had received tramadol for pain control and experienced an uncomfortable sensation in both legs immediately after tramadol withdrawal that worsened at rest and at night, and which could be relieved only by moving the legs. He suffered from insomnia and paced up and down in his house every night. Readministration of tramadol dramatically resolved his symptoms of restless legs syndrome (RLS), but they reappeared after tramadol withdrawal. Tramadol was therefore replaced with ropinirole, which was discontinued after several weeks, and there was no recurrence of his RLS symptoms. This patient appeared to have developed tramadol-withdrawal-induced RLS, and this case report emphasizes the importance of monitoring for withdrawal-type symptoms like RLS when tramadol intake is being stopped.
Humans ; Leg ; Recurrence ; Restless Legs Syndrome* ; Sensation ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; Substance Withdrawal Syndrome ; Tramadol*

Tramadol(Tridol) was developed by Grunenthal GmbH as a new non-narcotic analgesic agent. It was used as a new anesthetic agent by Stoffregen who works in Hage, West Germany, instead of neurolept-anesthetics which make sometimes cause severe post-anesthetic respiratory insufficiency. From September to December 1982, 40 cases of balanced anesthesia with controlled tramadol infusion were performed at Chung Ang Univ. Hospital. The anesthetic results were compared with 72 cases of halothane anesthesia: 1) During anesthetic induction, changes of systolic blood pressure were similar in both 2 groups, but the heart rate was stabler in the tramsdol group. 2) Tramadol has little effect on muscular relaxation. 3) Tramadol anesthesia has very rapid post-anesthetic consciousness recovery time and this little respiratory depression. 4) Post-operative pain was minor in tramadol anesthesia compared to neurolept-anesthesia. 5) The technique of use was very simple, safe and economically cheap in balanced anesthesia with controlled tramadol-infusion.
Anesthesia ; Balanced Anesthesia* ; Blood Pressure ; Consciousness ; Germany ; Halothane ; Heart Rate ; Relaxation ; Respiratory Insufficiency ; Tramadol