Comparison of Short-Term Postoperative Analgesia by Epidural, Femoral Nerve Block, or Combination Femoral and Sciatic Nerve Block in Dogs Undergoing Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy.

Abstract

To compare early postoperative analgesia in dogs undergoing unilateral tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) that received bupivacaine via preoperative femoral nerve block (FNB), combination femoral-sciatic nerve block (F+SNB), or lumbosacral epidural (EPI). Randomized, blinded, prospective clinical trial. Forty-five client-owned dogs undergoing unilateral TPLO. Dogs undergoing unilateral TPLO were enrolled and randomly allocated to 1 of 3 treatments: FNB, F+SNB, or EPI. Assessments were completed by an observer blinded to treatment at 0, 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours after extubation using the Glasgow Composite Pain Score-Short Form (GCPS-SF). Dogs with a total score ≥ 6 or ≥ 3 in any category were given a rescue analgesic. Outcome measures analyzed for differences across treatments were the GCPS-SF at each time point, time to first rescue analgesic, and total number of rescue analgesic doses per dog. The GCPS-SF score at extubation was significantly higher for FNB (median 3) compared to F+SNB (median 2). A significantly higher proportion of dogs receiving FNB (4/14) than F+SNB (0/17) required rescue analgesic at extubation. There was no significant difference in the proportion of dogs requiring rescue at extubation between FNB and EPI (2/14) or between F+SNB and EPI. There was no significant difference in the median time to first rescue between FNB (0 hours) and F+SNB (2 hours) or between F+SNB and EPI (1.5 hours). In dogs undergoing unilateral TPLO, bupivacaine administered via FNB, alone or in combination with sciatic nerve block, can provide short-term postoperative analgesia not different to that with administration via lumbosacral epidural.