CI-744 anesthesia for ophthalmological examination and surgery in monkeys

CI-744 is a new agent for chemical restraint and surgical anesthesia in animals, consisting of equal parts by weight of the cataleptoid agent tiletamine-HCl and the tranquilizer zolazepam-HCl. We have used it in the intramuscular dose of five to ten milligrams per kilogram to anesthetize 110 cynomolgus and 10 vervet monkeys a total of 1,500 times for various ophthalmological procedures. At these dosages its characteristics of action were rapid onset, thirty of fifty minutes of surgical depth anesthesia during which there was excellent muscular relaxation and an absence of ocular movements, a very gradual emergence, and no adverse after effects. In these monkey species, we judge CI-744 superior to phencyclidine or methohexital as a short-acting general anesthetic for most ophthalmological procedures.