BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Pain Res.
Sec. Pharmacological Treatment of Pain
Volume 6 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpain.2025.1569246
This article is part of the Research TopicInsight in Pharmacological Treatment of Pain – 2023View all 5 articles
The effect of non-opioid multimodal analgesics and dexamethasone monotherapy on acute incisional pain behaviors in rats
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, United States
- 2Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States
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The use of non-opioid multimodal analgesics (NMA) may enhance pain relief and decrease opioid dependence in managing acute incisional pain, although this remains debated. A clinical trial found NMA ineffective compared to placebo, prompting us to investigate its impact on painlike behaviors in animal models.In our study, 12 rats underwent plantar incision surgery and were divided into two groups: NMA and vehicle. NMA comprised acetaminophen, celecoxib, gabapentin, and dextromethorphan, with dosages based on human equivalents. We measured paw withdrawal latency (PWL), paw withdrawal threshold (PWT), and spontaneous foot lifting (SFL) behaviors.Before injection, there were no significant differences between the groups in PWL, PWT, or SFL. After treatment, PWL increased in NMA-injected rats (9.8±2.2 sec) compared to vehicle (5.9±2.7 sec; p=0.02). SFL frequency decreased in NMA-injected rats (8.0±5.0 count/20-min) versus vehicle (30.7±18.0 count/20-min; p=0.013). However, PWT and SFL duration showed no significant changes. This research represents the first exploration of NMA's effects on incisional pain, suggesting it may effectively manage acute postsurgical pain with inflammatory and neuropathic components.Further clinical validation is needed, but our results indicate NMA could be a viable opioid alternative.
Keywords: nonopioid, multimodal, rat, Postoperative pain, Incision
Received: 31 Jan 2025; Accepted: 08 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Banik, Sia, Johns and Simone. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Ratan K Banik, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, St. Paul, United States
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