Analgesic evaluation of echo-guided abdominal wall blockade (TAP) in canis lupus familiaris undergoing ovariohysterectomy

Abstract

Introduction. Transversus Abdominis Plane (TAP) block is a technique that has been shown to be effective in providing analgesia of the abdominal wall and parietal peritoneum and has been used as part of a multimodal analgesia protocol in several surgical procedures with moderate/high pain, such as oophorectomy, ovariohysterectomy and canine mastectomy. Postoperative pain management is essential in care for both humans and animals, maintaining adequate levels of analgesia leads to numerous benefits, such as faster recovery and improved quality of recovery processes. Objective. To evaluate the analgesic efficacy of ultrasound-guided abdominal wall nerve block (TAP) in mixed-breed bitches undergoing ovariohysterectomy (OHV). Methodology. In the present study the analgesic efficacy of the transverse abdominal block (TAP) was evaluated in a sample of 20 patients randomly assigned to two groups (n=10). The groups consisted of a control group that did not receive the TAP block and only transoperative analgesia (T2) and the TAP block group (T2) that received bupivacaine (0.2ml/kg point at 0.25%), a bilateral approach was performed, corresponding to four points received by each patient. This study was carried out in the veterinary clinic "Anubis" in the city of Machala. Province of El Oro, during the period July-August 2023. Once the surgery was finished and 1 hour after extubation the patient proceeded to measure the pain based on the Glasgow scale. Results. There were significant differences between the two groups (p=0.01) 12 hours after surgery. None of the patients of the two treatments required analgesic rescue. However, the performance of the TAP block showed better pain control compared to common analgesics. Conclusion. Comparison between the group receiving TAP block and the control group without block revealed a significant difference in the levels of pain experienced. Specifically, the group undergoing TAP block exhibited a lower degree of pain, suggesting that this technique has a positive impact on postoperative pain management in this setting.