Use of Methadone in combination with xylazine and Ketamine as premedication in association with intraoperative bupivacaine blockage in female dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. Ovariohysterectomy (OVH) is commonly performed in general practice and is the surgical removal of the ovaries and uterus that can report intra-operative and postoperative OVH complications. Many anesthetic combinations have been efficiently used in the veterinary surgical routine. However, sometimes these combinations were unable to provide a suitable degree of hypnosis and analgesia needed for the surgical procedures OBJECTIVE. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the role of methadone combined with xylazine, ketamine and bupivacaine blockage in canine ovariohysterectomy in order to study the improvement in pain management. MATERIALS AND METHODS. This study was carried out using 20 female dogs from the Insular of Gran Canaria Shelter. All the animals were selected without distinction of race, age, size, or weight and randomly assigned in 2 groups (n=10) using a blinded to the same anesthesia evaluator. All the animals were previously evaluated through a standard physical examination and classified as ASA I (American Society of Anesthesiologists Status Scale). This study was undertaken always following the current animal welfare legislation. RESULTS. All the animals of study were surgically managed without complications and recovered properly. The results obtained were analyzed in a comparative study between both groups, using T-student and analysis data from Excel statistics program. Although, group G1 showed good results in order to provide analgesic and sedation the group G2 demonstrated a better behaviour with an improvement in the quality of sedation and awakeness. The G2 also showed a small trend of improvement in the induction agent and isoflurane requirement. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE. The use of methadone combined with Xylazine, Ketamine and bupivacaine showed a better quality of sedation and recovery quality. This difference was statistically significant compared with the group G1 where methadone was not included. The analgesia was well achieved successfully by both protocols and the Glasgow scale showed a small trend with better values in group G2, but these results were not statistically significance