Avaliação do reflexo tibial cranial em cadelas, antes e após bloqueio epidural

Abstract

The evaluation of spinal reflexes is essential to identify the existence of lower or upper motor neuron lesions and their location in the nervous system. It was verified in cats that the so-called cranial tibial reflex is a pseudo-reflex, with a purely muscular response. The objective of this work was to test the cranial tibial reflex in bitches, before and after epidural block, to determine if it depends on a myotatic reflex arc. We used 40 knees of 20 healthy dogs, aged up to 5 years and without distinction of breed, submitted to epidural anesthesia for elective ovariohysterectomy. An evaluation and comparison of the responses of the patellar reflexes, flexor of the hind limbs, perineal, nociception and of the cranial tibial reflex was carried out before and after the epidural block was performed, using a scoring scale that showed when it was absent, decreased, normal. or increased. While the other reflexes and nociception disappeared after the block, the tibial cranial reflex was maintained, as it is not a true reflex-arc-dependent myotatic reflex. It was concluded after carrying out the tests that the so-called cranial tibial reflex, described in dogs, is a muscular response and not a true reflex, as already mentioned in cats.