Comparison of meperidine, tramadol and fentanyl for post-spinal shivering prevention during cesarean delivery: A double-blind randomized controlled trial

Evidence-Based Guideline on Prevention and Management of Shivering After Spinal Anesthesia in Resource-Limited Settings: Review Article

Background

Perioperative shivering is a common problem faced in anesthesia practice. Unless it is properly managed and prevented, it causes discomfort and devastating problems, especially in patients with cardiorespiratory problems. Surgery, anesthesia, exposure of skin in a cool operating theater, and administration of unwarmed fluids are some of the major causes for the development of shivering among surgical patients. Currently, a variety of non-pharmacological and pharmacological techniques are available to prevent and manage this problem. The available options to prevent and treat shivering include but are not limited to pre-warming the patient for 15 minutes before anesthesia administration, administration of low dose ketamine, dexamethasone, pethidine, clonidine, dexmedetomidine, tramadol, and magnesium sulfate.

Objective

To develop evidence-based recommendations for the prevention and management of shivering after spinal anesthesia in a resource-limited settings.

Methods

The kinds of literature are searched from Google Scholar, PubMed, Cochrane library, and HINARI databases to get access to current and update evidence on the prevention and management of shivering after spinal anesthesia. The keywords for the literature search were (shivering or prevention) AND (shivering or management) AND (anesthesia or shivering).

Conclusion

Pre-warming the patient with cotton, blanket, gown warming, and administering warm IV fluid 15 minutes before spinal anesthesia are possible non-pharmacologic options for the prevention of shivering. Furthermore, pharmacological medications like low dose ketamine, dexamethasone, magnesium sulfate, ad tramadol can be used as alternative options for the prevention and management strategies for shivering of different degrees in resource-limited areas.

Comparison of dexmedetomidine and meperidine for the prevention of shivering following coronary artery bypass graft: study protocol of a randomised controlled trial

INTRODUCTION

Shivering is a common complication in the postoperative period. The incidence of shivering has been reported to range from 5% to 65% under general anaesthesia and as 33% during epidural anaesthesia. Shivering can increase perioperative risk in patients. Both dexmedetomidine and meperidine are effective agents for the prevention of postanaesthetic shivering. However, few studies have compared the anti-shivering effects of different agents following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). This study aims to compare the effects of dexmedetomidine and meperidine on the incidence of shivering in patients undergoing CABG.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

A total of 180 patients aged 18-75 years, with an American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade of II-IV, undergoing elective CABG will be enrolled and randomly assigned to the dexmedetomidine, meperidine and control groups (placebo) in an intended 1:1:1 allocation ratio. The patients will be followed up for 7 days after surgery. The primary outcome is the incidence of shivering within 24 hours postoperatively. The secondary outcomes are the number of remedial drugs used after surgery, the incidence of postoperative hypotension and bradycardia, sedation scores, endotracheal extubation time, intensive care unit length of stay, incidence of postoperative delirium within 7 days after surgery, incidence of postoperative arrhythmias, incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting, average hospital length of stay and mortality rate 30 days after surgery.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study protocol was approved by the ethics committee of The First Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University on 20 January 2021 (YXLL-KY-2021(002)) and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov. The results of this study will be presented at national and international scientific meetings and conferences. We plan to publish the data in peer-reviewed international scientific journals.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT04735965.

New Serotonin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors and Their Anesthetic and Analgesic Considerations

Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) inhibit the presynaptic neuronal uptake of serotonin and norepinephrine and prolong the effects of the monoamines in the synaptic cleft within the central nervous system, leading to increased postsynaptic receptor activation and neuronal activities. Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors can have multiple clinical indications, including as the first-line agents for the management of depression and anxiety, and as analgesics in the treatment of chronic pain. The effects of reuptake inhibition of norepinephrine and serotonin are often dose-dependent and agent-dependent. There are five FDA-approved serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (desvenlafaxine, duloxetine, levomilnacipran, milnacipran and sibutramine) currently being marketed in the United States. As the COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased the incidence and prevalence of anxiety and depression across the country, there are significantly increased prescriptions of these medications perioperatively. Thus, anesthesiologists are more likely than ever to have patients administered with these agents and scheduled for elective or emergency surgical procedures. A thorough understanding of these commonly prescribed serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and their interactions with commonly utilized anesthetic agents is paramount. There are two potentially increased risks related to the continuation of SNRIs through the perioperative period: intraoperative bleeding and serotonin syndrome. SNRIs have some off-label uses, more new indications, and ever-increasing new applications in perioperative practice. This article aims to review the commonly prescribed serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors and the current clinical evidence regarding their considerations in perioperative anesthesia and analgesia.

Incidence of postoperative shivering decreased with the use of acetaminophen: a propensity score matching analysis

OBJECTIVES

The incidence of postoperative shivering is known to be inversely associated with core body temperature. However, previous studies have pointed out that the threshold of shivering could be affected by peripheral temperature or anesthetic agents. These reports pointed specific drugs, though, anesthesia techniques have since advanced considerably. This study aimed to investigate factors associated with postoperative shivering in the context of the current body warming practice.

METHODS

The institutional clinical research ethics committee of Kyushu University approved the study protocol (IRB Clinical Research number 2019-233). This retrospective study involved 340 patients who had undergone radical surgery for gynecological cancer treatment under general anesthesia at our center from December 2012 to June 2019. Logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratio (OR) for the incidence of postoperative shivering.

RESULTS

Postoperative shivering developed in 109 out of 340 patients. After multivariate-adjusted logistic regression, the incidences of postoperative shivering decreased significantly with increasing patient age (OR = 0.96; 95%CI: 0.93-0.98; p = 0.0004). Volatile anesthesia technique was less inclined to shiver after surgery than TIVA (OR = 0.55; 95%CI: 0.30-0.99; p = 0.04). Acetaminophen was much less used in the shivering group than in the non-shivering group (OR = 0.49; 95%CI: 0.25-0.94; p = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

This study indicated that the development of shivering in patients receiving the anesthetic technique currently used in our hospital was associated with use of acetaminophen or volatile agents, and patient age.