Objective

To find the epidural dose of buprenorphine hydrochloride for relieving pain after fracture repair in the hind limbs of dogs

Materials & Methods

Twenty eight dogs with hind limb fractures were randomly divided into 4 groups. Normal saline, 0.005, 0.01 and 0.015 mg/kg buprenorphine hydrochloride were given epidurally to the anesthetized animals before starting surgery. Heart rate, respiratory rate and arterial blood pressures were measured to assess pain score and cardiopulmonary effect for eight hours after epidural administration.

Results

Pain score of group receiving epidural 0.01 mg/kg buprenorphine was insignificantly less than the scores of other three groups during 120 minutes after epidural administration. No significant cardiopulmonary change was observed.

Conclusion

Epidural buprenorphine hydrochloride at the dose of 0.01 mg/kg provides some degree of analgesia after fracture repair in the hind limbs of dogs.