Assessment of Echocardiographic and Electrocardiographic Effects of Tramadol Administration in Dog

Nowadays, due to widespread usage of anti-pain drugs, more attention is being paid to tramadol, although it has only been recognized  rather recently in veterinary medicine. Therefore, evaluation of its effects on various organs is a principal issue.

The aim of present study was to investigate cardiac function change following administration of tramadol using electrocardiography and echocardiography.

Five healthy dogs aged 3-5 years and weighting 20-26 kg were selected for study. To check the health of animals, clinical and laboratory examinations were performed. Then animals were kept for 2 weeks and vaccination and anti parasite therapy were prescribed for them. This study was conducted in 3 stages and ECG and echocardiography were recorded: before tramadol injection, immediately after injection and one hour after that. Parametric data analysis of variance with repeated measure was conducted using SPSS version 20.

Along evaluated parameters, only left ventricular volume in end-diastole and end-systole, time interval between the Q wave to aortic valve closure, stroke volume and ejection fraction showed significant difference between the three stages.

In conclusion, tramadol shows remarkable anti-pain effects with low cardiac side-effects in comparison to other opioid drugs. However, more studies are needed due to the importance of this subject.