Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain relief and sedation after knee surgery in dogs compared
By Kalamaras, Alexandra B et al.·Published in Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia·2021·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of perioperative saphenous and sciatic nerve blocks, lumbosacral epidural or morphine-lidocaine-ketamine infusion on postoperative pain and sedation in dogs undergoing tibial plateau leveling osteotomy.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 45 dogs undergoing surgery for a torn knee ligament received different types of pain relief to see which worked best. Some dogs were given a combination of morphine, lidocaine, and ketamine through an IV, while others received an epidural injection or nerve blocks in their legs. The dogs that had the nerve blocks experienced less pain without being overly sedated compared to the other methods. All dogs managed well during and after surgery, and none needed extra pain relief.
People also search for: dog knee surgery pain relief · TPLO surgery recovery · nerve block for dog pain management
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To compare the quality of postoperative analgesia and sedation after preoperative saphenous and sciatic nerve blockade, preoperative lumbosacral epidural injection and perioperative intravenous (IV) morphine, lidocaine and ketamine infusions in dogs undergoing stifle arthroscopy and tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) under general anesthesia. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, blinded, randomized, clinical comparison study. ANIMALS: A total of 45 dogs weighing 33.9 (15.9-56.7) kg and aged 5.2 (1.0-12.0) years, mean (range), undergoing elective unilateral TPLO for spontaneous cranial cruciate ligament rupture. METHODS: Client-owned dogs were enrolled. Dogs were randomly assigned to one of three groups: group MLK, perioperative IV morphine, lidocaine and ketamine infusion; group EPID, lumbosacral epidural with ropivacaine and morphine; or group SSNB, saphenous and sciatic nerve blockade with ropivacaine. Routine stifle arthroscopy followed by TPLO surgery was performed. Sedation and pain scores were assessed at 0, 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours following extubation. Rescue analgesia was administered as prescribed by Glasgow composite pain score-short form score >5. RESULTS: Sedation scores for MLK were higher than EPID and SSNB. Pain scores for SSNB were lower than those for EPID and MLK. No significant differences were found in anesthesia duration or surgery duration among groups. No dogs required rescue analgesia. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although analgesia was adequate in all groups, the best combination of analgesia without increased sedation was recorded for SSNB.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33814330/