Post Operative Management of Shivering: A Comparison Between the Efficacy of Tramadol and Pethidine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51253/pafmj.v76iSUPPL-8.14611Keywords:
Aged, Meperidine, Postoperative Shivering, Spinal Anesthesia, Tramadol, Transurethral Resection of ProstateAbstract
Objective: To compare improvement in shivering and frequency of adverse effects in geriatric patients undergoing trans-urethral resection of prostate (TURP).
Study Design: Quasi-experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study: Anesthesia Department of Combined Military Hospital, Sialkot, Pakistan from Jan 2025 to Dec 2025.
Methodology: A total of 860 patients were divided into Group-A (n=430) to receive IV Tramadol and Group-B (n=430) to receive IV Pethidine. The primary outcome measure was the improvement or prevention of postoperative shivering following administration of the study drug. The secondary outcome measure included the frequency of adverse effects associated with each medication.
Results: The overall frequency of postoperative shivering was significantly lower in the Tramadol Group where 41 patients (9.5%) developed shivering compared with 98 patients (22.8%) in the Pethidine Group (p<0.001) with the grade of shivering considerably more severe in the Pethidine than the Tramadol Group (p<0.001).
Conclusion: Overall, the findings of the present study are consistent with contemporary anesthesia literature demonstrating that Tramadol is an effective and safe pharmacologic agent for preventing postoperative shivering. In addition to its superior efficacy, Tramadol exhibited a more favorable safety profile compared with Pethidine, particularly with respect to respiratory depression, sedation, and hypotension.
Downloads
References
1. Bindu B, Bindra A, Rath G. Temperature management under general anesthesia: complications and management. Anesthesiol Res Pract 2021; 2021: 8858455.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2021/8858455
2. Yi J, Lei Y, Xu S, Si Y, Li S, Xia Z. Incidence and risk factors of postoperative shivering: a prospective observational study. BMC Anesthesiol 2020; 20(1): 64.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-020-00992-9
3. Sessler DI. Perioperative thermoregulation and heat balance. Lancet 2021; 387: 2655–2664.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(21)00315-5
4. Madrid E, Urrútia G, Roqué i Figuls M. Active body surface warming systems for preventing complications caused by inadvertent perioperative hypothermia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2021; CD009016.
https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD009016.pub3
5. Alfonsi P. Postanaesthetic shivering: epidemiology, pathophysiology and approaches to prevention and management. Drugs 2021; 81(3): 321–333.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s40265-020-01441-8
6. De Witte J, Sessler DI. Perioperative shivering: physiology and pharmacology. Anesthesiology 2021; 134(4): 678–692.
https://doi.org/10.1097/ALN.0000000000003684
7. Sharma DR, Thakur JR, Katoch S. Comparative efficacy of Tramadol versus Pethidine for treatment of post-spinal anesthesia shivering: a randomized controlled study. Cureus 2022; 14(3): e22967. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.22967
8. Tilahun A, Seifu A, Aregawi A, Abera B, Demsie D. Effectiveness of meperidine versus Tramadol on post spinal anesthesia shivering in elective cesarean section: a prospective observational cohort study. Int J Surg Open 2021; 28: 22–26.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijso.2020.10.003
9. Crossley AW, Mahajan RP. The intensity of postoperative shivering is unrelated to axillary temperature. Anaesthesia 1994; 49(3): 205–207.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2044.1994.tb03496.x
10. Shrestha S, Bhandari S, Shah RS. Comparison of Tramadol and meperidine for control of post-spinal anesthesia shivering. J Coll Med Sci Nepal 2021; 17(1): 22–27.
https://doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v17i1.30577
11. Gupta P, Sharma R, Singh DK. Pharmacological prevention of postoperative shivering: a comparative clinical study. Indian J Anaesth 2023; 67(3): 189–195.
https://doi.org/10.4103/ija.ija_784_22
12. Patel PM, Patel HH, Patel KP. Comparative evaluation of Tramadol and meperidine for treatment of post-spinal anesthesia shivering. Indian J Clin Anaesth 2022; 9(2): 287–292.
https://doi.org/10.18231/j.ijca.2022.052
13. Shakya A, Karki DB, Marhatta MN. Tramadol versus Pethidine in the treatment of post-spinal anesthesia shivering. Kathmandu Univ Med J 2020; 18(70): 162–166.
https://doi.org/10.3126/kumj.v18i2.32931
14. Bansal P, Jain G, Singh DK. Comparative study of Tramadol and Pethidine for post-spinal anesthesia shivering. J Clin Diagn Res 2020; 14(7): UC01–UC04.
https://doi.org/10.7860/JCDR/2020/44869.13863
15. Kumar A, Saxena KN, Taneja B. Prevention of shivering following spinal anesthesia using Tramadol . J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2021; 37(3): 381–386.
https://doi.org/10.4103/joacp.JOACP_210_20
16. Thapa D, Ahuja V, Chettri S. Management of post-anesthetic shivering in elderly surgical patients. Indian J Anaesth 2022; 66(9): 679–684. https://doi.org/10.4103/ija.ija_341_22
17. Kumar P, Singh S, Prakash V. Comparison of Tramadol and Pethidine for post-anesthetic shivering control. Anesth Essays Res 2021; 15(2): 203–208.
https://doi.org/10.4103/aer.AER_40_21
18. Rao MH, Rao SR. Pharmacological interventions for post-anesthetic shivering. J Anaesthesiol Clin Pharmacol 2022; 38(4): 587–593. https://doi.org/10.4103/joacp.joacp_189_21
19. Joshi GP, Kehlet H. Postoperative recovery and complications after regional anesthesia. Anesthesiol Clin 2023; 41(1): 35–48.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anclin.2022.10.002
20. Elvan EG, Oc B, Uzun S. Dexmedetomidine and Tramadol for prevention of postoperative shivering. Eur J Anaesthesiol 2020; 37(5): 431–437. https://doi.org/10.1097/EJA.0000000000001160
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Osamah Ahmed, Sabrina Ali, Mohsin Saleem, Akhtar Hussain, Khan Muhammad Yaqub, Raja Muhammad Nousherwan

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.





