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Actions of xylazine in young swine
I A Gómez de Segura1, F J Tendillo, A Mascías
1Departamento de Cirugía, Clínica Puerta de Hierro, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
Objective:
To determine sedative, analgesic, and basic cardiovascular effects of xylazine administered to pigs.
Animals:
6 two-month-old Landrace x Large White pigs.
Procedure:
Xylazine was administered i.v. at increasing dosages (1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 mg/kg of body weight) to otherwise unmedicated, conscious pigs, and the aforementioned effects were determined before xylazine administration and 2, 5, 10, and 15 minutes later. Then a higher xylazine dosage was given after the 15-minute measurements were taken.
Results:
None of the xylazine dosages induced sufficient analgesia to prevent painful response to tail clamping; considerable excitation with vocalization and without appreciable sedative effect was observed at all dosages. At lower dosages, cardiovascular effects were characterized by bradycardia and biphasic blood pressure response; initial hypertension was followed by hypotension. At higher dosages, severe hypotension with moderate bradycardia was followed by marked bradycardia and return to normal baseline values or slight increase in blood pressure.
Conclusion:
Xylazine did not induce adequate sedative or analgesic effects in pigs at any dosage tested; however, cardiovascular effects were considerable. These effects of xylazine differ from those observed in other domestic species.