https://www.vetsurgeon.org/f/clinical-questions/29108/should-i-worry-about-using-opioids-after-gastrointestinal-surgery Should I worry about using opioids after gastrointestinal surgery, because of their effect on GI motility? en-USTelligent Community 10https://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/222692?ContentTypeID=1Mon, 18 May 2020 10:34:01 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:9444f8ba-4530-4996-a643-ac14f83d2ec1Jo Murrell<p>I agree with Carl - clinically reduced GI motility does not seem to be a problem with opioids and GI surgery. Uncontrolled pain also disturbs GI motility so if you don&#39;t get on top of pain management then reduced GI motility may&nbsp;be a problem. Occasionally we see dogs that regurgitate on methadone or&nbsp;buprenrophine - but this doesn&#39;t seem to be that common. Similarly to Carl many GI surgeries will receive epidural morphine which allows the systemic dose of opioids to be reduced. We also use paracetamol routinely to reduce opioid consumption.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>https://www.vetsurgeon.org/thread/222690?ContentTypeID=1Mon, 18 May 2020 09:41:35 GMT146601cc-3922-4be7-9974-7e1d4e45a66b:df47a7c8-9089-4932-85bb-504384c683f6Carl Bradbrook<p>I do not worry about using the doses of opioids we commonly use in the clinic following GI surgery. All of our intestinal surgery cases will receive methadone (or occasionally fentanyl) in the post-operative period as a part of their analgesic protocol and we do not observe any GI motility issues. Wherever possible we use local anaesthetic techniques to allow the lowest doses of opioid to be administered, and pain scoring to guide administration. I think I am more concerned about providing inadequate analgesia and the stress response resulting from this, which is more likely to have a negative impact on patient recovery.</p> <p><br />Carl&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div>