Research Information System
VETERINARSKI ARHIV, vol.82, no.5, pp.463-472, 2012 (SCI-Expanded)
The aim of this study was to evaluate the analgesic efficacy of subarachnoid application of a low dose of detomidine combined with a low-dose of ropivacaine for flank analgesia in cows. Fifteen non-pregnant adult cows of the Swiss Brown breed, weighing an average of 350 kg, were used. After applying local anaesthesia to the subcutaneous tissues in the area where the catheter was to be administered, a Tuohy needle was inserted into the subarachnoid space at the T13-L1 or L1-L2 region and a combination of detomidine (0.015 mg/kg)-ropivacaine (0.02 mg/kg) HCl was administered at a speed of 0.5 mL/min with a spinal catheter. Flank analgesia started within 1 min after the anaesthetic combinations was injected, the effective duration of the anaesthesia was 104 min on average and the anaesthesia had spread to the T12 and the L5 level. No statistically significant difference was found with regard to cardiopulmonary, haematological or haemodynamic parameters as measured before and during anaesthesia. A relatively small amount of detomidine HCl and ropivacaine HCl is sufficient to achieve safe and rapid analgesia in the left flank.