Clinical efficacy of dexmedetomidine administered at governing vessel 20 acupuncture point in cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the sedative, analgesic and cardiopulmonary effects of dexmedetomidine administered at Governing Vessel 20 (GV-20) acupuncture point and its impact on the dose and quality of anesthetic induction, isoflurane requirements and the quality of anesthetic recovery, comparatively with the intramuscular (IM) route. In a prospective, clinical, randomized and blinded study, 30 female cats undergoing ovariohysterectomy will be distributed into two treatments: pre-anesthetic medication with dexmedetomidine (10 µg/kg) administered intramuscularly (groups IM, n=15) or at GV-20 acupuncture point (group GV20). Anesthesia will be induced with propofol (dose effect) and the dose and quality of the induction will be recorded. Isoflurane will be administered for maintaining surgical depth of anesthesia. Heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic arterial blood pressure, oxicapnografy, and end tidal isoflurane concentration will be evaluated during the surgery. Sedation and analgesic degrees will be assessed preoperatively and 24 hours after the tracheal extubation using sedation scoring, Glasgow composite measure feline pain scale (GCMPS) and the UNESP-Botucatu multidimensional composite pain scale (MCPS). Rescue analgesia (morphine, 0.2 mg kg1) IM will be administered if the MCPS e 6/24 and/or GCMPS e 5/20. The quality of anesthetic recovery will be evaluated using a scoring system. Data will be analyzed using Student´s t test, Fisher´s exact test, ANOVA followed by a Tukey´s test (parametric data), Mann-Whitney and Friedman test (non-parametric data) (p < 0.05). (AU)