Bupivacaine with and without detomidine and ketamine for epidural analgesia in buffalo calves - Clinico-physiological study

Abstract

The present study was conducted on 15 healthy non-descript, male buffalo calves aging 6 to 8 months to evaluate the efficacy of bupivacaine alone and in combination with ketamine and detomidine for lumbar epidural analgesia. The calves were randomly divided into 3 groups, viz. group A (bupivacaine alone), group B (bupivacaine and ketamine), and in group C (bupivacaine and detomidine) were administered. The onset of analgesia was significantly earlier in group C animals (5.65 ± 1.86 min) as compared to group B (5.87 ± 1.77 min) and group A (10.73 ± 2.82 min). In group A animals, analgesia was mild to moderate of thorax and flank, while it was moderate to complete in group C and B. In inguinal, perineum, hind limbs and tail regions analgesia was mild to moderate in group C, whereas it was very mild to mild in group A and B. The duration of analgesia and recovery time was significantly longer in group C than in groups A and B. The mean respiration rate and heart rate decreased significantly in groups A and C, whereas it increased significantly in group B.