Clinical evaluation of epidural bupivacaine, butorphanol, and butorphanol - bupivacaine combination in goat

0px; "> Butorphanol is a synthetic opioid commonly used for epidural anesthesia in humaneither alone or in combination with bupivacaine but not in goat. The objective of thepresent study was to evaluate the analgesic effect of epidural butorphanol eitheralone or in combination with bupivacaine. Fifteen adult apparently healthy goatswere randomized into three equal groups to receive a lumbosacral epidural injectionof bupivacaine 0.5 % (0.5 mg/kg), butorphanol 1% (0.08 mg/kg) or theircombination (bupivacaine 0.25 mg/kg and butorphanol 0.04 mg/kg). Animals wereobserved for incoordination of hind limbs, perineal pin prick and sedation at 10minutes interval. Heart rate, respiratory rate and rectal temperature were assessedevery 15 minutes. Epidural butorphanol resulted into significantly (P < 0.05) rapidanalgesia (9.8 ± 1.1 Min) than the butorphanol– bupivacaine combination (12.8 ±0.84 Min) and bupivacaine (16.6 ± 0.55). Butorphanol-bupivacaine combinationprovoked significant ((P < 0.05) prolonged intense analgesia (208 ± 8.36 Min)compared to either bupivacaine (112 ± 8.37) or butorphanol (166 ± 5.48 Min).Ataxia accompanied administration of bupivacaine either alone or in combinationwith butorphanol, while sedation was observed in animals received butorphanolalone or combined with bupivacaine. No significant changes were observed in heartrate, respiratory rate or rectal temperature. The epidural administration ofbutorphanol-bupivacaine combination promoted longer-lasting analgesia in goatswithout motor disturbances compared to bupivacaine alone. This combination mightprove useful clinically to provide analgesia in goats for long-duration perinealobstetrical or surgical procedures.