Comparative Efficacy of Ketamine-xylazine

The major application of tramadol is for the control of chronic pain and management of postoperative pain in humans. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of premedication with tramadol on xylazine–ketamine anesthesia in animal models. In this experimental study which was conducted at The Veterinary Medicine School, Islamic Azad University, Karaj Branch, in 2011, 10 dogs from mixed breeds from both sexes, with the mean weight of 20 ± 2 kg were selected and randomly assigned into two groups. In the first group, atropine (0.04 mg/kg), Xylazine (0.55 mg/kg) and ketamine (10 mg/kg) were administered by intramuscular (IM) injection, 5 minutes after either tramadol (2 mg/kg, IV) while in the other group an equal volume of normal saline (IV) used instead of tramadol. Analgesic period and recovery times and physiological parameters were measured and recorded. Data analysis was conducted by using independent sample t- test. Duration of analgesia was 17.2 minutes in tramadol group and 36.4 minutes in saline group. This difference was statistically significant (P=0.02). Based on the findings of this study, addition of tramadol to xylazine/ketamine reduces the duration of analgesia.