Epidural vs. intramuscular oxymorphone analgesia after thoracotomy in dogs

Oxymorphone was administered epidurally (0.1 mg/kg) or intramuscularly (IM) (0.2 mg/kg) to 16 dogs undergoing thoracotomy, to compare the analgesic effectiveness. Heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and pain score were measured hourly. Arterial blood gases were measured at hour 1. A single dose of oxymorphone injected epidurally provided analgesia for up to 10 hours, whereas the IM route provided a comparable effect for less than 2 hours. There were statistically significant increases in heart rate, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures at hour 2 in the dogs treated IM over the dogs treated epidurally. We conclude that epidurally administered oxymorphone is highly effective in alleviating pain after thoracotomy in dogs and provides longer lasting analgesia than the IM route.