Erector spinae plane block for pain relief during rabbit surgery

Abstract

Simple Summary Over the past two decades, anesthetic techniques for nociceptive management in small animal practice have evolved to closely mirror those used in human medicine. It is now widely recognized that effective pain management enhances animal welfare and leads to improved clinical outcomes. Pain management in rabbits is a topic of growing interest in veterinary medicine. The implementation of systemic and local multimodal analgesic protocols is now considered integral to the clinical management of lagomorphs. Nevertheless, the use of locoregional anesthesia techniques in rabbits remains limited and is underrepresented in the current veterinary literature. Abstract This clinical case report explores the use of an erector spinae plane (ESP) block to provide perioperative analgesia in a rabbit undergoing spinal decompression surgery. A 6-year-old, 2 kg, spayed, female mixed-breed rabbit presented with acute-onset paraplegia secondary to intervertebral disc extrusion and compressive myelopathy at the L2–L3 disc space. Following neurologic examination and diagnostic evaluation, the patient underwent decompressive surgery at the L2–L3 level. An ultrasound-guided ESP block was performed at the L3 level, with 0.4 mL/kg of ropivacaine 0.5% administered bilaterally. The technique successfully provided intraoperative analgesia and maintained stable hemodynamics without complications. Postoperatively, the rabbit showed a smooth recovery with no need for opioid analgesia. The use of the ESP block was effective in reducing perioperative pain and opioid requirements, highlighting its potential role in multimodal analgesia in rabbits. Further studies are warranted to confirm the safety and efficacy of ESP blocks in this species.