The Comparison of Meperidine and Tramadol in the Treatment of Postanaesthetic Shivering

The aim of this study was to compare the efficicacy of meperidin and tramadol in the treatment of postanaesthetic shivering after general anaesthesia. In this randomized, double-blind and controlled study, 105 ASA I-II patients who developed severe shivering (scores 2,3) within 10 min of their admission to recovery unit were studied. The patients were randomly allocated into three groups. The patients received tramadol 1 mg kg -1 (Group T, n=35), meperidine 0.5 mg kg-1 (Group M, n=35) and normal saline (Group P, n=35) intravenously, respectively. The patients systolic and diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation were recorded before, immediately after injection and 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60 min after injection. Postanaesthetic shivering and sedation score were evaluated before, immediately after injection and 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 20, 30, 60 min after injection. Side effects and all accompanying symptoms occuring during the clinical trial were recorded. Shivering was more effectively treated by tramadol and meperidine than placebo (p<0.05). The response rate (shivering ceased after treatment) was 85.7% and 82.8% for Group T and 82.8% and 97.1% for Group M compared with 11.4% and 34.2% in Group P respectively at 1 and 5 min. Sedation scores were significantly higher in Group M when compared with Group T and Group P. No considerable differences was detected in hemodynamic variables and SpO2 values among the three groups. Nause and vomiting were similar between three groups. In this study, because of tramadol has potent antishivering effect which is similar to that of meperidine and weak sedative properties we concluded that it may be an alternative to meperidine for treating postanaesthetic shivering.