A comparison of low dose tiletamine‐zolazepam or acepromazine combined with methadone for pre‐anaesthetic medication in cats. (2nd July 2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mair, Alastair; Kloeppel, Heide; Ticehurst, Kim
• Is Part Of: Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia. Volume 41:Number 6(2014:Nov.)
• Page Start: 630
• Page End: 635
• Publication Date: 2014-07-02
• Subjects: Veterinary anesthesia -- Periodicals; 636.089
• DOI: 10.1111/vaa.12161
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1467-2987

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="vaa12161-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="vaa12161-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Objective</title> <p>To compare the level of sedation, cardiorespiratory changes, and quality of recovery in cats receiving methadone plus either low dose tiletamine‐zolazepam or acepromazine for premedication prior to general anaesthesia for neutering.</p> </sec> <sec id="vaa12161-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Study design</title> <p>Prospective, randomized, blinded clinical study.</p> </sec> <sec id="vaa12161-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Animals</title> <p>Twenty cats 0.54 ± 0.12 years‐old (mean ± SD), weighing 3.17 ± 0.65 kg (10 male and 10 female).</p> </sec> <sec id="vaa12161-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>Cats were allocated randomly to receive intramuscularly either 0.03 mg kg<sup>−1</sup> acepromazine (ACE) or 3 mg kg<sup>−1</sup> tiletamine‐zolazepam (TZ), both regimens combined with 0.2 mg kg<sup>−1</sup> methadone for premedication. Sedation was assessed 25 minutes after premedication using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and a simple descriptive scale (SDS). Anaesthesia was induced with alfaxalone and maintained with isoflurane. Physiological parameters were recorded at 1, 3 and 5 minutes post‐endotracheal intubation. Recovery from cessation of isoflurane was timed and quality assessed using a SDS and a VAS. Data was analysed with Mann–Whitney <italic>U</italic>‐test, students <italic>t</italic>‐test, <sc>anova</sc> or ordinal logistic regression as relevant. Significance was taken as <italic>p </italic><<italic> </italic>0.05.</p> </sec> <sec id="vaa12161-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Sedation was more pronounced in TZ than ACE as indicated by higher VAS (67 ± 21 <italic>versus</italic> 13 ± 5) and SDS scores [4 (1–4) <italic>versus</italic> 1 (0–1)]. Following sedation, Heart (HR) and respiratory (f<sub>R</sub>) rates did not differ between groups. After anaesthetic induction, at times 1, 3 and 5 HR, systolic arterial pressure and end tidal carbon dioxide were significantly higher and f<sub>R</sub> was significantly lower in TZ than ACE. Recovery quality was similar between groups. In both groups, times to extubation, head lift and sternal recumbency were similar, but time (minutes) until standing was significantly longer in TZ (31 ± 16) than ACE (18 ± 11).</p> </sec> <sec id="vaa12161-sec-0006" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion and clinical relevance</title> <p>Low dose tiletamine‐zolazepam combined with methadone provided superior sedation to ACE. Recovery quality was similar, although time to standing was longer.</p> </sec> </abstract>