Intravenous paracetamol does not have significant opioid-sparing effects when used as part of a multimodal analgesic protocol in dogs undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery.

IV paracetamol provided no significant opioid-sparing effect in perioperative canine orthopedic surgery.

This randomized controlled trial investigated whether intravenous paracetamol provides opioid-sparing effects when combined with NSAIDs in dogs undergoing elective orthopedic surgery. Twenty-seven dogs were divided into two groups: one receiving 10 mg/kg IV paracetamol after anesthetic induction and every 8 hours during hospitalization (n=14), and a control group receiving no paracetamol (n=13). All dogs received meloxicam or robenacoxib at licensed doses. Rescue analgesia with 0.1 mg/kg IV methadone was administered when Glasgow composite measure pain scale-short form scores exceeded 4/20. The study found no statistically significant differences in methadone requirements between groups (median 0.0 vs 0.1 mg/kg, p=0.17), either intraoperatively or postoperatively. Four test dogs and seven control dogs required rescue analgesia. The authors conclude that paracetamol did not provide clinically significant opioid-sparing effects when used as part of a multimodal analgesic protocol with NSAIDs in this perioperative setting. The low rescue analgesic requirements in both groups suggest potential type II statistical error may have influenced results.

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