Brachial plexus anesthesia methods comparative characteristics in organ-preserving surgeries in dogs

The aim of the study is to compare intravenous anesthesia and two methods of local anesthesia (blind method and method using a neurostimulator) for brachial plexus blockade for intraoperative analgesia in dogs, during organ-preserving surgery on the forearm. Fifteen dogs were divided into three groups. Group 1 received intravenous analgesics as anesthesia, group 2 underwent blind forearm blockade, group 3 underwent blockade of the brachial plexus using a neurostimulator. In group 1, constant rate intravenous infusion of ketamine (CPI) 2-4 mg/kg/h and fentanyl 5 µg/kg boluses were used as anesthesia. In groups 2 and 3, ropivacaine was used as anesthesia at a dose of 2 mg/kg. As a premedication, the subjects received morphine at a dose of 0.5 mg/kg IM and acepromazine 0.03 mg/kg IM. For induction, all patients received propofol at a dose of 4-6 mg/kg, and sevoflurance with a minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of 2 % was used as a maintenance anesthetic. During the entire intraoperative period, the parameters of the cardiovascular and respiratory systems were taken into account. The results of the study showed that both intravenous analgesia and locoregional anesthesia are effective methods of providing intraoperative analgesia, however, the use of locoregional anesthesia offers a number of advantages over intravenous analgesia, reducing the development of unwanted side effects, accelerating the time of awakening, recovery and discharge of the animal from the hospital. Using the method of neurostimulation of nerves, in contrast to the classical blind method, turned out to be more effective, due to the ability of this method to identify individual nerves of the brachial plexus and deliver the local anesthetic as close to them as possible, increasing the success of the blockade.