Anestesia epidural na cirurgia descompressiva lombossacral de cães

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the feasibility, effectiveness, advantages and disadvantages of lumbosacral epidural anesthesia associated with inhalation anesthesia in surgical decompression of cauda equina, seeing as this is a lengthy procedure with a painful recovery from anesthesia. Eleven adult dogs were selected from the Veterinary Hospital, without distinction of sex, which showed clinical signs of cauda equina syndrome, diagnosed by neurological examination and radiographs. The dogs were submitted to general inhalation anesthesia and left at a superficial stage, after which epidural anesthesia with bupivacaine 0.5% via spinal tap in L7-S1 was performed in six of 11 patients. To confirm epidural block, the patellar and flexor reflexes were tested, along with evalluation of muscle tone and skin dermatomes, with the animals in a superficial anesthetic plane. The approach to spinal column was then performed by the neurosurgery team. Physiological parameters (heart, vascular, respiratory and body temperature) were measured before the preanesthetic medication, 10 minutes after, 30 minutes after epidural block, after opening the spine and 60 minutes, 90 minutes, both in the animals with and without an epidural. The amount of isoflurane used and time to extubation were also noted. Animals that had epidurals showed a significant reduction in the consumption of isoflurane and time until extubation. There were no neurological deficits caused by the epidural anesthesia when compared with the group without epidural anesthesia. It was concluded that epidural anesthesia is effective in lumbosacral decompression surgeries, leading to a lower anesthetic risk for the animals.