Trial reportAnesthesia and analgesia2011
Intraoperative methadone improves postoperative pain control in patients undergoing complex spine surgery.
Trial report in Anesthesia and analgesia, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 19 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 57 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Intraoperative Methadone Versus Morphine for Postoperative Pain Control in Patients Undergoing Intramedullary Nailing or Open Reduction and Internal Fixation of the Tibia
The Influence of Pharmacogenetics on Methadone Dose, Safety, and Outcomes After Spine Fusion
Analgesia Following Posterior Spinal Fusion: Methadone vs Magnesium
Prospective Randomized Double Blind Study of Intraoperative Dexmedetomidine and Postoperative Pain Control in Patients Undergoing Multi-level Thoraco-lumbar Spine Surgery
A Randomized Blinded Prospective Trial Comparing Single Intraoperative Dose of Methadone Versus Placebo in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery.
Perioperative Methadone Use to Decrease Opioid Requirement in Pediatric Spinal Fusion Patients
The Effect of Methadone vs. Fentanyl Administration on Postoperative Pain Control in Pediatric Patients Undergoing Cardiac Surgery: A Randomized, Double-Blinded Controlled Trial
Does Intraoperative Methadone Prevent Postoperative Pain in Bariatric Surgery?
Single-dose Intraoperative Methadone for Early Ambulation and Sustained Pain Control in Spinal Fusion Surgery Patients
Dosing of Methadone for Spine Surgery
Clinical Effectiveness and Safety of Intraoperative Methadone in Patients Undergoing Laparoscopic Hysterectomy: a Prospective, Double-blind, Randomised Controlled Trial
Intraoperative Methadone for Postoperative Pain in Patients Undergoing Tonsillectomy - a Randomized Controlled Trial
U.S Guided Erector Spinae Block for Postoperative Pain Control in Patients Undergoing Para Umblical Hernial Repair. (Comparative Study ).
Use of Single-Dose Oral Methadone for Pain Management in Outpatient Arthroscopic Hip and Knee Procedures
Pain Control and Quality of Recovery After Intravenous Methadone Versus Intrathecal Morphine in Major Abdominal Surgery
Erector Spinae Plane Block with Dexmedetomidine and Bupivacain Versus Dexamethasone and Bupivacain for Postoperative Analgesia in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Surgeries
Pain Control and Quality of Recovery After Intravenous Methadone Versus Intravenous Remifentanil in Craniotomy Surgery
Perioperative Rectal Methadone in Spine Surgery
Methadone to Reduce Chronic Opioid Use After Major Spine Surgery: The MEND Pilot Feasibility Study
Who cites it
57 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 220 citations in OpenAlex.
- Erector Spinae Plane Block in Abdominal Surgery: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Pathway for enhanced recovery after spinal surgery-a systematic review of evidence for use of individual components.BMC anesthesiology · 2021Pooled it
- Intraoperative single-dose methadone significantly affects postoperative morphine consumption in older patients with a hip fracture: the MetaHip randomized controlled trial.Acta orthopaedica · 2026Trial
- Intravenous methadone for pain management in cardiac surgery: a randomised controlled trial with plasma concentration analysis.Anaesthesia · 2026Trial
- Opioid sparing anesthesia in patients with liver cirrhosis undergoing liver resection: a controlled randomized double-blind study.BMC anesthesiology · 2025Trial
- Single-dose Intraoperative Methadone for Pain Management in Pediatric Tonsillectomy: A Randomized Double-blind Clinical Trial.Anesthesiology · 2024Trial
- Intraoperative methadone for day-case gynaecological laparoscopy: A double-blind, randomised controlled trial.Anaesthesia and intensive care · 2024Trial
- Intraoperative Methadone in Same-Day Ambulatory Surgery: A Randomized, Double-Blinded, Dose-Finding Pilot Study.Anesthesia and analgesia · 2019Trial
- Analgesic effects of methadone and magnesium following posterior spinal fusion for idiopathic scoliosis in adolescents: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of anesthesia · 2018Trial
- A comprehensive multimodal pain treatment reduces opioid consumption after multilevel spine surgery.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2013Trial
- [Comparison of postoperative analgesia with methadone versus morphine in cardiac surgery].Brazilian journal of anesthesiology (Elsevier)Trial
- Methadone administration and QT interval prolongation: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Intraoperative Intravenous Methadone and Postoperative Opioid Requirements in Adult Patients With Burns.Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association · 2026Article
- Spinal Analgesia Versus Intravenous Low-Dose Oxycodone for Pain Management After Robotic Hysterectomy: Preliminary Results from an ERAS Institution.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Perioperative Methadone in Orthopedic Surgery: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Intraoperative methadone for postoperative pain in adult patients undergoing tonsillectomy-a randomised controlled trial.BJA open · 2025Article
- Article
- Multimodal anesthesia for hemicorporectomy suggests creating a standardized anesthesia guideline: a case report.Annals of translational medicine · 2025Article
- Intraoperative methadone administration for total mastectomy: A single center retrospective study.Journal of clinical anesthesia · 2024Article
- Comparison of low-dose ketamine to methadone for postoperative pain in opioid addicts: a randomized clinical trial.Anesthesia and pain medicine · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPatients undergoing complex spine surgery frequently experience severe pain in the postoperative period. The combined opiate receptor agonist/N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor antagonist methadone may be an optimal drug for these patients given the probable involvement of N-methyl-d-aspartate systems in the mechanism of opioid tolerance and hyperalgesia.
methodsTwenty-nine patients undergoing multilevel thoracolumbar spine surgery with instrumentation and fusion were enrolled in this prospective study and randomized to receive either methadone (0.2 mg/kg) before surgical incision or a continuous sufentanil infusion of 0.25 μg/kg/h after a load of 0.75 μg/kg. Postoperative analgesia was provided using IV opioids by patient-controlled analgesia. Patients were assessed with respect to pain scores (visual analog scale from 0 to 10), cumulative opioid requirement, and side effects at 24, 48, and 72 hours after surgery.
resultsDemographic data, duration, and type of surgery were comparable between the groups. Methadone reduced postoperative opioid requirement by approximately 50% at 48 hours (sufentanil versus methadone group, median [25%/75% interquartile range]: 63 mg [27.3/86.1] vs 25 mg [16.5/31.5] morphine equivalents, P = 0.023; and 72 hours: 34 mg [19.9/91.5] vs 15 mg [8.8/27.8] morphine equivalents, P = 0.024) after surgery. In addition, pain scores were lower by approximately 50% in the methadone group at 48 hours after surgery (sufentanil versus methadone group [mean ± SD] 4.8 ± 2.4 vs 2.8 ± 2.0, P = 0.026). The incidence of side effects was comparable in both groups.
conclusionPerioperative treatment with a single bolus of methadone improves postoperative pain control for patients undergoing complex spine surgery.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.