Protocolos anestésicos utilizados para procesamentos cirúrgicos em bezerros de até 30 dias de vida no hospital veterinário da UFPB entre fevereiro de 2019 e julho de 2023

Abstract

The need for surgery and anesthesia in calves up to 30 days old is less common than in adult cattle but can still occur in specific situations. Due to neonatal patients having a developing physiological system with limited organic reserves and a lower capacity to respond to a physiological challenge or change, it becomes necessary to enhance knowledge about the ideal pharmacological doses of some anesthetics and analgesics, as well as the vigilant monitoring of these patients during surgical procedures. In light of the above, the objective was to conduct a survey of anesthetic protocols used for surgical procedures in calves up to 30 days old at the Veterinary Hospital of UFPB between February 2019 and July 2023. For this descriptive research, data related to anesthetic risk, and the drugs and techniques used in pre-anesthetic medication (PAM), anesthetic induction, maintenance, and postoperative care were collected. The results were subjected to quantitative analysis. During the study period, 28 surgeries were performed on neonatal cattle. Regarding anesthetic risk, 46.42% were classified as ASA II, and 14.28% as ASA III. The use of xylazine and detomidine (54%) was the most observed PAM protocol. Ketamine was present in 57.14% of the protocols, either alone or in combination, mainly with benzodiazepines such as midazolam and diazepam. Locoregional blocks had a frequency of 96.42% of cases, being associated with other maintenance techniques such as inhalation anesthesia, continuous infusion, or analgesic therapy during the intraoperative period. Among the most used drugs in locoregional anesthesia, bupivacaine was present in 34.48% and lidocaine in 31.03% of cases, alone. Lidocaine was used as analgesic infusion during maintenance in 7.14% of protocols. For postoperative pain management, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory meloxicam or flunixin was administered, alone or in combination with dipyrone. Thus, it is extremely important to understand the anesthetic modalities currently in use for neonatal cattle to train professionals in performing safe anesthetic techniques, aiming to minimize the risks of undesirable side effects and promote balanced multimodal anesthesia for these patients.