Abstract
The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of romifidine alone (50 microg/kg) and a combination of romifidine (50 microg/kg) and ketamine (2.5 mg/kg) after intrathecal administration in goats. Ten adult goats of either sex weighing between 15 and 20 kg were randomly placed in 2 groups (groups I and II). The agents were administered at the lumbosacral subarachnoid space. Clinico-physiological parameters such as analgesia, motor incoordination, sedation, salivation, heart rate, respiratory rate, arterial pressure, central venous pressure and rectal temperature were studied. Other haematobiochemical parameters monitored were packed cell volume, haemoglobin, plasma proteins, glucose, urea and creatinine. The onset of analgesia was faster in group II (35.5 +/- 6.25 s) compared to that of group I (5.2 +/- 0.54 min). Analgesia of the tail, perineum, hind limbs, flank and thorax was mild to moderate in group I, but complete analgesia of tail, perineum and hind limbs was recorded in group II. Motor incoordination was mild in group I and severe in group II. Significant reduction in heart rate (more pronounced in group I) and respiratory rate (more pronounced in group II), and a significant increase in central venous pressure were recorded in both groups. Mean arterial pressure was reduced in both groups, but more markedly in group I. Sedation, electrocardiogram, rectal temperature and haemato-biochemical parameters did not show significant differences between the 2 groups. The results of this study indicated a possible synergistic analgesic interaction between intrathecally administered romifidine and ketamine, without causing any marked systemic effects in goats.
Highlights
Alpha-2-adrenergic agonists such as xylazine, detomidine and medetomidine have been widely used epidurally and intrathecally to bring about more prolonged hindquarter analgesia than the conventionally used lignocaine hydrochloride in r uminants[22,41]
Tail analgesia varied from mild to moderate in group I, but it was complete and significantly (P < 0.01) greater in group II (Fig. 2)
Analgesia of the hind limbs and flank was generally moderate in group I, and the peak effect was seen at 30 min (Figs 3, 4)
Summary
Alpha-2-adrenergic agonists such as xylazine, detomidine and medetomidine have been widely used epidurally and intrathecally (subarachnoid) to bring about more prolonged hindquarter analgesia than the conventionally used lignocaine hydrochloride in r uminants[22,41]. A major disadvantage of the use of "-2 agonists is dose-dependent cardiovascular depression[12] To overcome this limitation, alpha-2 agonists have been used in combination with other drugs such as local anaesthetics or opioids[8,13,14,18], to reduce the dose and limit the sideeffects. In previous studies when xylazine and medetomidine were used epidurally or intrathecally together with ketamine, hindquarter analgesia was prolonged and the cardiovascular depressant effect reduced considerably, suggesting synergistic interaction between the NMDA receptor antagonist and the alpha-2 adrenergic agonist[1,3,22,23]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the analgesic interaction as well as physiological, haematobiochemical and haemodynamic changes produced by romifidine alone and in combination with ketamine after intrathecal administration in goats
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