Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain relief during and after spay surgery in cats with two epidural
By Zahra, Julia Oliveira Lima et al.·Published in The Journal of veterinary medical science·2023·Department of Veterinary Surgery and Anesthesiology, Brazil·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: A comparison of intra and postoperative analgesic effects of sacrococcygeal and lumbosacral epidural levobupivacaine in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Thirty-six cats undergoing spay surgery (ovariohysterectomy) were given either a pain-relieving medication called levobupivacaine through an epidural injection in their lower back or tail area, or a saline solution as a control. The cats that received levobupivacaine needed less anesthesia during the surgery, but there was no significant difference in their pain levels after the surgery compared to those who received the saline. All cats recovered well, but those that received the levobupivacaine took longer to stand up after waking from anesthesia.
People also search for: cat spay surgery pain relief · levobupivacaine for cats · cat recovery after spay surgery
Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the intra and postoperative analgesic effects of sacrococcygeal epidural levobupivacaine with those of lumbosacral levobupivacaine in feline ovariohysterectomy. Thirty-six cats were premedicated with intramuscular acepromazine (0.05 mg/kg) and meperidine (6 mg/kg). Anesthesia was induced with intravenous propofol and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. The cats were randomly assigned one of the three treatments receiving 0.33% levobupivacaine (0.3 mL/kg) into the sacrococcygeal (S-C group, n=12) or lumbosacral (L-S group, n=12) epidural space, or the same volume of 0.9% saline solution into one of the epidural approaches (Control group, n=12). Intraoperatively, cardiorespiratory variables, end-tidal isoflurane concentration (FE´ISO), and fentanyl requirements were recorded. Postoperative pain was assessed by the UNESP (Universidade Estadual Paulista)-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale and the Glasgow feline composite measure pain scale up to 8 hr post-extubation. Morphine was administered as rescue analgesia. Overall FE´ISO and fentanyl requirements were lower in the L-S and S-C compared to the Control (P=0.002-0.048, respectively). There was no significant difference in the cardiorespiratory variables during anesthesia, postoperative pain and rescue analgesia among groups. The time to standing after anesthesia was prolonged in the L-S and S-C groups than in the Control (P<0.001). Lumbosacral and sacrococcygeal epidural levobupivacaine resulted in similar decreases in isoflurane requirements and intraoperative fentanyl supplementation in the cats, with no postoperative benefits.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37793832/