Effect of oral administration of gabapentin on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in cats

Abstract

ObjectiveTo determine if oral gabapentin decreases the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane in cats.Study designProspective, randomized, blinded, crossover, and experimental study.AnimalsA total of six healthy adult cats (three male, three female) aged 18–42 months, weighing 3.31 ± 0.26 kg.MethodsCats were randomly given oral gabapentin (100 mg cat−1) or placebo 2 h before starting MAC determination, with the crossover treatment given at least 7 days apart. Anesthesia was induced and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. Isoflurane MAC was determined in duplicate using an iterative bracketing technique and tail clamp method. Hemodynamic and other vital variables were recorded at each stable isoflurane concentration and were compared between gabapentin and placebo treatments at lowest end-tidal isoflurane concentration when cats did not respond to tail clamping. A paired t-test was used to compare normally distributed data, and a Wilcoxon signed-rank test was applied for non-normally distributed data. Significance was set at p < 0.05. Data are mean ± standard deviation.ResultsIsoflurane MAC in the gabapentin treatment was 1.02 ± 0.11%, which was significantly lower than that in the placebo treatment (1.49 ± 0.12%; p < 0.001), decreasing by 31.58 ± 6.94%. No significant differences were found in cardiovascular and other vital variables between treatments.Conclusion and clinical relevanceOral administration of gabapentin 2 h before starting MAC determination had a significant isoflurane MAC-sparing effect in cats with no observed hemodynamic benefit.

Assessment of the effect of gabapentin on blood pressure in cats with and without chronic kidney disease

“…2 Gabapentin has been shown to decrease visit-associated stress in feline patients in a variety of clinical scenarios, including the measurement of BP, and in general is considered to be a relatively safe medication with minimal clinically significant effects on physiologic parameters. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] However, special consideration should be given when using gabapentin in patients with compromised kidney function. Gabapentin is eliminated almost entirely through renal excretion, and decreased renal function significantly influences the pharmacokinetics of gabapentin in humans.…”