Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Pain relief comparison for dogs in chest and belly surgery
By Lardone, E et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2022·Department of Veterinary Sciences, Italy·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Thoracic epidural anaesthesia vs intrathecal morphine in dogs undergoing major thoracic and abdominal surgery: clinical study.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs undergoing major chest or abdominal surgery received either thoracic epidural anesthesia (TEA) or intrathecal morphine (ITM) to help manage pain during and after their procedures. The dogs given TEA needed significantly less additional pain relief during surgery compared to those receiving ITM, with only one dog requiring extra medication versus 16 in the ITM group. Both methods were effective for pain control, but TEA resulted in fewer side effects and less need for extra pain relief. Overall, TEA appeared to provide better pain management for these surgeries.
People also search for: dog surgery pain management · thoracic epidural anesthesia for dogs · intrathecal morphine side effects in dogs
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is scant clinical research on neuraxial analgesia in dogs undergoing major surgery. With this study we compared the perioperative analgesic effects of thoracic epidural anaesthesia (TEA) and intrathecal morphine (ITM) in dogs scheduled for thoracic or cranial abdominal surgery. The dogs received methadone and dexmedetomidine, were anaesthetized with propofol maintained with sevoflurane, and randomly assigned to receive either TEA (ropivacaine 0.5% at 0.2 mg/kg and morphine 0.1 mg/kg administered at T-T) or ITM (morphine 30 μg/kg administered at L-L). Intraoperative rescue analgesia (iRA) was fentanyl 1 μg/kg administered if heart rate or mean arterial pressure increased by 30% above the pre-stimulation level. Glasgow Pain Composite Scale score (GPCS) dictated the use of postoperative rescue analgesia (pRA) with methadone 0.2 mg/kg. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant difference in iRA, median time to first fentanyl bolus, median fentanyl dose after surgical opening, and median GPCS score at 30 minutes (min), 1 ,2, 4, 6, and 8 hours (h) between the two groups (p<0.001; p<0.001; p<0.001; p<0.01; p<0.01; p<0.001; p<0.01; p=0.01; p=0.01, respectively). Fewer TEA than ITM group dogs required iRA during surgical opening and pRA: 5% (1/18) and 2/18 (11%), respectively, in the TEA and 83% (16/18) and 10/18 (55%), respectively, in the ITM group. Side effects were urinary retention in 3/18 (16%) TEA group dogs and 2/18 (11%) ITM group dogs and prolonged sedation in 2/18 (11%) in ITM group dogs. TEA and ITM were effective in managing perioperative pain in dogs undergoing thoracic or cranial abdominal surgery.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35624498/