Intraoperative antinociception and postoperative analgesia following epidural anesthesia versus femoral and sciatic nerve blockade in dogs undergoing stifle joint surgery

Abstract

Objective-To compare analgesic efficacy of preoperative epidural anesthesia with effi- cacy of femoral and sciatic nerve blockade in dogs undergoing hind limb orthopedic surgery. Design-Prospective randomized blinded clinical study. Animals-22 dogs requiring stifle joint surgery. Procedures-Dogs were premedicated with acepromazine and morphine, and anesthesia was induced with diazepam and propofol and maintained with sevoflurane in oxygen. Prior to surgery, a combination of 1.0% lidocaine solution with 0.25% bupivacaine solution was administered either into the lumbosacral epidural space (11 dogs) or perineurally along the femoral and sciatic nerves (11). Intraoperative nociception was assum..