• Zohreh Tamanai-Shacoori, Valliollah Shacoori, Anne Jolivet-Gougeon, Jean-Marie Vo Van, Martine Repère, Pierre-Yves Donnio, and Martine Bonnaure-Mallet.
• Equipe de Microbiologie, UPRES-EA 1254, Université de Rennes I, Rennes Cedex, France.
• Anesth. Analg. 2007 Aug 1; 105 (2): 524-7.

BackgroundTramadol is a synthetic analog of codeine with opioid and local anesthetic properties. It is used as a central-acting analgesic, and recently, in subcutaneous or intradermal injections, as a local anesthetic. We investigated in vitro the antibacterial activity of tramadol in the absence of any local anesthetics against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa pathogens that can cause infectious complications after local or regional anesthesia.MethodsBacterial cultures were grown for 18 h, diluted in sterile physiological saline, and incubated for 6 or 24 h at 37 degrees C with 6.25, 12.5, or 25 mg/mL tramadol. The mixtures were then plated onto blood agar and colony counts were recorded after 24 h incubation at 37 degrees C.ResultsTramadol had bactericidal activity against E. coli and S. epidermidis compared with controls: at 25 mg/mL for 6 h or at 12.5 mg/mL for 24 h, tramadol decreased by approximately 7 log(10) (P < 0.001) the colony counts of E. coli (100% kill). Similar results were obtained with S. epidermidis, with approximately 6 log(10) reduction (100% kill) when tramadol was used at 25 mg/mL for 24 h (P < 0.001). The antibacterial effect of 25 mg/mL tramadol was lower against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa, reducing the growth of these strains by approximately 3log(10) after 24 h (P < 0.001).ConclusionsTramadol has dose- and time-dependent bactericidal activity against E. coli and S. epidermidis, as well as antibacterial activity against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa. The antibacterial properties of tramadol may be useful for reducing the risk of bacterial infection after local or regional anesthesia.

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