The growing popularity of turtles as pets has led to
increased demand for veterinary care for these animals. Reptile anesthesia can
be challenging, and ketamine in combination with medetomidine administered
intramuscularly or intravenously can lead to superficial anesthesia. This study
aimed to assess the efficiency of ketamine and medetomidine by two different
doses and routes on anesthesia depth and cardiac stability in red-eared
sliders.
The study was conducted at the Veterinary
Faculty – University of Sarajevo. Each turtle was anesthetized two times, with
seven days wash-out period. Induction of anesthesia consisted of a bolus
combination of ketamine (10 mg/kg) and medetomidine (0.2 mg/kg) administered in
the left brachial biceps in the intramuscular protocol, or a bolus combination
of ketamine (20 mg/kg) and medetomidine (0.2 mg/kg) administered in
subcarapacial sinus after clear blood presence confirmation in the intravenous
protocol. Vital signs, reaction on the skin palpation, manual mouth opening for
endotracheal intubation, palpebral and cloacal reflex, and the withdrawal
reflex of the front and hind limbs were measured and recorded every 5 minutes
for 60 minutes after anesthesia injection. Atipamezole (1 mg/kg) was
administered in the right brachial biceps one hour after ketamine and
medetomidine administration. Needle insertion and possible painful reactions to
drug administration were also evaluated and recorded. Obtained data were analyzed
for normality and paired t-tests, Wilcoxon, or McNamar tests were performed
where appropriate. The values of P ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. The
surgical plane of anesthesia was achieved 100% and 5% in intravenous and
intramuscular anesthesia protocols, respectively. A significantly less
pronounced decrease in heart rate was observed with intravenous anesthesia
protocol, while a decrease below 30% of basal heart rate was observed in 95% of
animals in intramuscular anesthesia protocol. Both protocols recorded complete
anesthesia recovery 60 minutes after intramuscular atipamezole administration.
A ketamine-medetomidine dose combination administered intravenously provides a
more stable and consistent anesthetic plane in red-eared sliders than ketamine-medetomidine
administered intramuscularly. Therefore, intravenous administration of this
combination should be the preferred route for inducing surgical plane
anesthesia in this animal species.
Author(s) Details:
Ismar Lutvikadic,
Department of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Faculty, University of
Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Alan
Maksimovic,
Department
of Clinical Sciences, Veterinary Faculty, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Please see the link here: https://stm.bookpi.org/NVMMS-V4/article/view/14006
No comments:
Post a Comment