Dr. Andy Roark interviews about maropitant (Cerenia) and whether it provides meaningful analgesia in anesthesia and soft tissue surgery. Satalia, who once promoted maropitant for visceral pain based on NK1 antagonist interest and early human data, now cautions that MAC reduction is not proof of analgesia and worries clinicians are using maropitant as a standalone pain medication, influenced by paper titles and abstracts. He critiques a widely discussed ovariohysterectomy study for flaws, including inconsistent pain-scoring methods, and cites a 2025 randomized clinical study showing maropitant CRI reduced sevoflurane requirements but did not suppress autonomic nociceptive responses or improve pain evaluations. He still recommends maropitant broadly for perioperative nausea—often paired with ondansetron—and discusses protocol variations, including pantoprazole in brachycephalics.
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ABOUT OUR GUEST
Stephen Niño Cital holds a Masters in veterinary anesthesiology and is a veterinary technician specialist (VTS) in research anesthesia among other credentials. He has a passion for anesthesia, pain management, and integrative medicine. Stephen has authored numerous peer reviewed articles and contributed to several textbooks- including acting as the lead editor for the first veterinary cannabinoid medicine textbook and more recently a second edition of a pain management textbook. He has many exciting professional highlights but some of his favorites include being part the scientific team that discovered acidic cannabinoid forms are absorbed more efficiently than decarboxylated forms, discovered a common drug used in anesthesia causes a serious complication known as methemoglobinemia in monkeys, invented a smaller and more practical blood filter for animals during blood transfusions, and helped gain title protection for veterinary technician specialists. Stephen is a lab manager for HHMI at Stanford University in the department of neurobiology, and the Chief Veterinary Nursing Officer and director of the pain and cannabinoid medicine services at Remedy Veterinary Specialists. Additionally, he is the COO of the Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds, LLC., and Executive Director of the Academy of Laboratory Animal Veterinary Technicians and Nurses, and president of the California RVT Association. His current pursuits include completing another acupuncture certification and a VTS in neurology.
