Estudo comparativo entre o uso de eletroacupuntura e morfina para controle de dor pós-operatória em cadelas submetidas à mastectomia

Abstract

Electroacupuncture has been shown to be effective in experimental and clinical acute pain settings. The present study aims to evaluate the postoperative cardiopulmonary, sedative and analgesic effects of electroacupuncture, morphine or sham acupuncture in bitches undergoing mastectomy. The 30 dogs were sedated with acepromazine (0.05 mg kg-1, im), followed by induction of anesthesia with propofol (4 mg kg-1) and anesthesia maintenance with isoflurane. The dogs were equally distributed into three treatments that underwent: Gmorf, morphine intramuscular administration; GEA, application of electrical stimuli to acupuncture points; Gsham: similar to the treatment described for GEA, except that the needles were introduced into false points. Heart and respiratory rates, non-invasive systolic arterial pressure, rectal temperature and arterial blood gases, were evaluated during pre and trans-surgery periods. The analgesic and sedation score, as well as the need of rescue analgesia were measured during the first 12 hours after surgery. Statistical analysis was performed using anova for repeated measures to investigate the time in each group and between treatments. Tukey s method was used to contrast group means. Statistics were considered significant at p<0.05. Respecting the cardiorespiratory variables, the systolic arterial pressure was reduced in all groups, during anesthesia. The sedation score was lower in Gsham than in Gmorf, during the first post-surgery hour. The pain score did not differ among the groups, but in the GEA, the animals received less rescue analgesia than the others groups. In conclusion, electroacupuncture reduced the morphine need and promotes satisfactory analgesia in bitches subjected to mastectomy.