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Electroacupuncture versus morphine for the postoperative control pain in dogs
Hugo Higa Gakiya1, Danielle Alves Silva, Juliano Gomes
1Veterinary Hospital, Department of Veterinary Surgery and Anestesiology, Scholl of Veterinary Medicine, Oeste Paulista University, Presidente Prudente-SP, Brazil.
Purpose:
[corrected] To compare the postoperative analgesic effects of electroacupuncture, morphine or sham acupuncture in dogs undergoing mastectomy.
Methods:
Thirty client-owed dogs undergoing to mastectomy were randomly assigned to three groups of 10 animals each and received either morphine (T-M), the electroacupuncture (T-EA) or sham procedure (T-Sham). Pre-anesthetic medication was acepromazine (0.05 mg kg(-1), IM). Anesthesia was induced with propofol (4 to 5 mg kg(-1), IV) and maintained with isoflurane. Postoperatively pain degree was assessed using a numerical rating scale. Dogs were scored at 1, 3, 6 and 12 hours post-extubation. If the pain score was ≥6, supplemental morphine was administered. Serum cortisol concentration was measured before pre-anesthetic medication, at 45 minutes after the anesthetic induction, and at 1, 3 and 6 hours post-extubation.
Results:
The pain score did not differ among the treatments, but rescue analgesia was lower in the T-EA group (2 of 10 dogs), when compared with T-Sham (6 of 10 dogs) and T-M (6 of 10 dogs) groups. Serum cortisol concentration did not differ among the treatments.
Conclusion:
Electroacupuncture reduces the postoperative analgesic requirement and promotes satisfactory analgesia in dogs undergoing mastectomy.
