Analgesic Effect of Intrathecal Administration of Metoclopramide in Rats

Pain is an unpleasant sensory and both pharmacological and non-pharmacological methods are applied in sedation management. The analgesic effect of metoclopramide has been reported in some studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic effect of intrathecal administration of metoclopramide in rats.

In this interventional-experimental study, 30 male rats were divided into five groups (n=6 per group). Groups 1, 2, and 3 received 2.5 mg/kg, 5 mg/kg, and 10 mg/kg spinal metoclopramide, respectively. Group 4 received 1 mg/kg lidocaine and group 5 (control) received only distilled water. Pain threshold was measured by tail flick test and pain intensity was measured by formalin test. Quantitative pain intensity was measured every five minutes for one hour. Data analysis was carried out in SPSS V26 applying One-way Analysis of Variance and Kruskal-Wallis test.

The study showed that pain threshold was highest in group 4 that received lidocaine (P= 0.003). There was no significant difference in the onset of pain between the control group and group 1 (P= 0.079). Pain intensity was found to be lower in group 4 than other groups and group 3 (10 mg/kg metoclopramide) compared with groups 1 and 2 )P=0.019).

Metoclopramide is effective in reducing the severity of postoperative pain and higher doses are associated with better results.