Pain relief with erector spinae block in dogs after spine surgery

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To compare the perioperative opioid requirements among dogs receiving an erector spinae plane (ESP) block with bupivacaine, with or without dexmedetomidine, and a control group. ANIMALS AND PROCEDURE: Thirty client-owned, healthy adult dogs undergoing hemilaminectomy were included in this randomized, prospective, blinded clinical study. Dogs were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 treatment groups: Group B, ESP block with bupivacaine; Group BD, ESP block with bupivacaine and dexmedetomidine; and Group C, control. Rescue intra- and postoperative analgesia consisted of fentanyl and methadone, respectively. Postoperative pain was evaluated using the short form of the Glasgow Composite Measure Pain Scale (CMPS-SF). RESULTS: In Group BD, 0/10 dogs required intraoperative fentanyl, compared to 9/10 in Group C (< 0.001), whereas 1/10 required postoperative methadone, compared to 9/10 in Group B (= 0.003) and 10/10 in Group C (< 0.001). The total amount of intraoperative fentanyl (&#x3bc;g/kg) was 0 (0 to 4) in Group B and 0 (0 to 0) in BD, compared to 6 (0 to 8) in C (= 0.004 and< 0.001, respectively). Postoperative methadone (mg/kg) required during the first 12 h was 0.5 (0 to 1.4) in Group B (= 0.003) and 0 (0 to 0) in BD (< 0.001), compared to C (= 0.003 and< 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: An ESP block with bupivacaine, with or without dexmedetomidine, was associated with a reduction in perioperative opioid consumption and provided effective acute pain control.