Perineal analgesic actions of epidural clonidine in cattle

R De Rossi; Gisele V Bucker; Juliana V Varela

doi:10.1046/j.1467-2995.2003.00089.x

Perineal analgesic actions of epidural clonidine in cattle

Vet Anaesth Analg. 2003 Apr;30(2):63-70. doi: 10.1046/j.1467-2995.2003.00089.x. Epub 2016 Nov 15.

Authors

R De Rossi¹, Gisele V Bucker², Juliana V Varela²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Campo Grande, Brazil. Electronic address: derossi@nin.ufms.br.
² Department of Veterinary Medicine, Surgery and Anesthesiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul State, Campo Grande, Brazil.

PMID: 28404418
DOI: 10.1046/j.1467-2995.2003.00089.x

Abstract

Objective: To determine the analgesic, sedative, motor, cardiac and respiratory effects of epidural clonidine in cattle.

Study design: Prospective randomized study.

Animal population: Six healthy male cattle weighing between 236 and 365 kg.

Methods: To investigate the effect of epidural clonidine, the animals received 2 and 3 μg kg^-1 of clonidine diluted to 8 mL with 0.9% saline. Two treatments were utilized as controls. The animals from the first control treatment received 2% lidocaine (0.4 mg kg^-1) and those from the second received an equal volume of 0.9% saline. Each animal received each treatment in random order. Evaluations of analgesia, sedation, muscle relaxation, heart rate, respiratory rate and rectal temperature were obtained at 0 (basal), 2, 5, 10, 15 and 30 minutes after epidural injection, and then at 30-minute intervals until loss of analgesia occurred. All the animals received a standard noxious stimulus consisting of needle insertion into the skin and deep muscle; a 4-point scale was used to score the response. A second scale was used to score sedation and a third for muscle relaxation.

Results: Both doses of clonidine were effective in producing analgesia of the tail, perineum, and upper hindlimb. Complete analgesia was present before (mean ± SE = 9 ± 4 vs. 19 ± 9 minutes) and lasted longer (311 ± 33 vs. 192 ± 27 minutes) for the 3 μg kg^-1versus the 2 μg kg^-1 dose, respectively. A dose-dependent sedative effect of clonidine was also observed, with a peak effect between 60 and 180 minutes. No effects on heart or respiratory rates were observed with either dose of clonidine.

Conclusions: Epidural administration of 2 and 3 μg kg^-1 of clonidine in cattle in this study provided bilateral perineal analgesia/anesthesia with a dose-dependent onset and duration of action.

Clinical relevance: Further studies are required to determine whether the analgesia is sufficient for surgery.

Keywords: a(2)-agonist; analgesia; cattle; clonidine; epidural.