Comparative study between the use of Levobupivacaine 0,5% and Ropivacaine 1,0% in lumbosacral epidural anesthesia in cats

Epidural anesthesia is a locoregional anesthesia technique that provides abolition of nociceptive stimuli in retro-umbilical region. This study aimed to compare the efficacy of sensory and motor block of levobupivacaine and ropivacaine administered epidurally in cats. Six female cats were submitted to epidural anesthesia which received randomly, through blind study, three treatments at intervals of one week between these: group NaCl 0.9% (control); group levobupivacaine 0.5%; group ropivacaine 1%. After solutions infusion the nociceptive stimuli was proceeded by clamping technique. The sensory block was determined by visual analogue scale and simple descriptive scale and through heart rate (HR) and respiratory rate variances (RR). Furthermore, the motor block was evaluated using a modified Bromage score and patellar tendon reflex test. The analysis of variance and the Kruskal-Wallis test were used for statistical analysis. No significant differences were observed for the variables HR, RR, sensory and motor block, however, significant difference was detected in latency periods. The use of ropivacaine and bupivacaine provide equivalent efficacy regarding the sensory and motor block, however, the sensory and motor latency times are greater in the use of ropivacaine.