Vol. 6, Issue 9 (2017)

Author(s):
Sripati Sethi, J Singh, I Nath, RK Das, S Nayak and Rajesh K Sahu

Abstract:
The study was conducted on 24 female dogs suffering from pyometra, divided randomly into 4 groups of six animals in each group. Atropine was administered @ 0.04 mg/kg body weight IM followed after 5 minutes by xylazine @ 0.5 mg/kg body weight in groups A and B while dexmedetomidine was administered @ 10 μg/kg body weight in groups C and D via IM route. Additionally, in group A and C, butorphanol was administered @ 0.2 mg/kg body weight while in group D pentazocine @ 2 mg/kg body weight was administered through IM route. After 10 minutes of premedication, anaesthesia was induced with ketamine administered as single bolus in all the groups. The maintenance of anaesthesia was carried out with ketamine as IV when needed. Adequate muscle relaxation, sedation and analgesia necessary for surgical intervention were achieved in all patients. Recovery was smooth and uneventful in all the groups. The animals of groups C and D regained recovery and attained sternal and standing position after a longer duration as compared to groups A and B. Haemoglobin, PCV and TLC decreased in all the groups but there were no significant difference among the groups. Neutrophilia concurrent with lymphocytopenia was recorded in the animals of all groups. An increase in plasma urea nitrogen, plasma glucose and plasma creatinine were recorded in the animals of all the groups. The values of SpO2 revealed significant decrease after premedication and during post-induction period in all the groups. It was concluded that dexmedetomidine-butorphanol and/or pentazocine combination produced a comparable degree of clinico-physiological and haemodynamic stability during ketamine anaesthesia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy following pyometra and may be recommended for balanced anaesthesia in critically ill canine patients.