Electroanalgesia for the postoperative control pain in dogs

purpose: to evaluate the analgesic and neuroendocrine effects of electroanalgesia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy. methods: eighteen dogs were randomly distributed to three groups of six animals each and received either electrical stimuli at acupuncture points (ea), at peri-incisional dermatomes (der) and at both acupuncture points and peri-incisional dermatomes (ead). pre-anesthetic medication was acepromazine (0.05mg kg-1, iv). anesthesia was induced with propofol (4 to 5mg kg-1, iv) and maintained with isoflurane. postoperatively pain degree was measured using a numerical rating scale. dogs were scored at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 hours postoperative. if the pain score was ≥6, supplemental morphine (0.5mg kg-1, im) was administered. serum cortisol concentration was measured before pre-anesthetic medication (basal), and at 1, 12 and 24 hours postoperative. results: ea and ead- treated dogs had lower pain scores than der treated dogs one hour postoperatively. fewer ea and ead-treated dogs required rescue analgesia. serum cortisol did not differ among treatments. conclusion: preoperative application of electrical stimuli to acupuncture points isolated or in combination with peri-incisional dermatomes provides a reduced postoperative opioid requirement and promotes an effective analgesia in dogs undergoing ovariohyterectomy.