Prevalence of Post-Anaesthesia, Shivering in Elective Spinal Surgery & Role of Tramadol in its Control.

Objectives: This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of post anaesthesia shivering and the role of Tramadol in its control in elective spinal surgery patients. Introduction: Postoperative shivering is a common side effect of general anaesthesia. Up to 40% of patients develop postanaesthesia shivering (PAS). Several empirical therapeutic methods are applied for PAS but their overall quality is low. The pharmacological and non-pharmacological anti-shivering methods are in use for controlling PAS. Different medications are analyzed but the conclusion about the optimal anti-shivering medications is difficult to be finalized. Material and Methods: This study was conducted from May 2019 to May 2020. All age groups and both genders were selected. Data was collected from a tertiary care hospital in Peshawar. It was a prospectively conducted cross-sectional study. Patients were selected having different spinal pathology. They were included based on history, physical examination, and MRI spine. For data analysis, SPSS version 22 software was used. Results: One hundred & fourteen (114) patients were studied. Among these patients, 34 patients (30 %) developed post anaesthesia shivering. Out of these 34 patients, 19 (56 %) were males and 14 (44 %) were females. In all thirty-four patients, Tramadol was used. It was effective in 28 patients (82 %) patients to control PAS. Only six patients (18 %) did not respond to Tramadol. Conclusion: 30 % of the sample population developed PAS. Tramadol is effective in controlling post-anaesthesia shivering and can be used as a favourable alternative to Pethidine whose availability is limited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]