Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Sedation effects on lameness in dogs before joint tests
By Van Vynckt, D et al.·Published in The Journal of small animal practice·2011·Faculty of Veterinary Medicine·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Evaluation of two sedation protocols for use before diagnostic intra-articular anaesthesia in lame dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 50 lame dogs was evaluated to see how two different sedation methods affected their lameness before a diagnostic procedure. One group received a combination of acepromazine and methadone, while the other group was sedated with medetomidine, which was reversed with atipamezole. Most dogs showed little to no change in their lameness after sedation, with only a small percentage experiencing a slight increase or decrease in lameness. This suggests that both sedation methods are effective and do not significantly impact the assessment of lameness in dogs.
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Abstract
OBJECTIVES: To assess the influence of two sedation protocols on the degree of lameness in dogs. METHODS: Fifty lame dogs were allocated to one of two sedation protocols. Group ACPM (acepromazine + methadone; n=25) was sedated with acepromazine and methadone. Group MED (medetomidine antagonised with atipamezole; n=25) was sedated with medetomidine and reversed with atipamezole. Each dog was evaluated for lameness before and after sedation using videotapes. Four experienced clinicians allocated global lameness scores before and after sedation to each dog using a numerical rating scale. RESULTS: In 80% of the dogs in group ACPM and in 72% in group MED lameness was not affected by the sedation. In 12% of the dogs in group ACPM and 20% of the dogs in group MED the observers noticed an increase of lameness of 1 or 2 degrees on a scale of 0 to 10. In 8% of the dogs in both groups lameness decreased with 1 degree. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: A possible diagnostic test for investigation of obscure lameness is intra-articular anaesthesia. Sedation is necessary to allow intra-articular injection. This study provided evidence that the effect of sedation with the proposed protocols on the degree of lameness is negligible.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22017629/