[Intravenous congestion anesthesia/-antibiotic administration in cattle--indications,technics, complications]

We present a literature review on current techniques of intravenous regional anesthesia and intravenous regional antibiosis of the distal limb in cattle. Our own experiences performing a combined procedure of intravenous anesthesia and antibiosis (10 million I.U. benzylpenicillin sodium dissolved in 15-20 ml 2%-lidocaine hydrochloride) are discussed in detail. Complete anesthesia of the treated limb was achieved in 22 out of 23 cases (96%). The successfully treated animals did not express any symptoms of pain for the entire surgical procedure. In 2 out of 15 patients (13%) we observed serious post-surgical complications. The reason of which was extensive thrombosis of all veins distal of the tourniquet. The age of the clots at the time of slaughtering of the cows was determined histologically. A direct cause effect relationship between intravenous anesthesia/antibiosis and complication is indicated. We conclude that direct toxicity of the 2000-fold overdose of benzylpenicillin (as compared to generally accepted therapeutic levels) most likely caused the problem. We recommend to reduce the dose of penicillin in regional intravenous antibiosis to maximally 100,000 I.U., even in the case of local sepsis.