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Use of alfentanil, sufentanil and fentanyl in dogs anesthetized with halothane

Opioid analgesics promote intense analgesia allowing reduction of the concentration of the inhalation anesthetics what minimizes the cardiovascular depression that occurs during anesthesia. Many opioid agents are used during anesthesia. Fentanil, alfentanil and sufentanil are among the most potent agents being preferentially used transoperatively. In the present study, the cardiovascular action of this three agents were compared during inhalation anesthesia in dogs submitted to orthopedic procedures, as well as the possibility of maintenance of anesthesia with halothane in low concentrations. Three groups of ten animals were employed in the experiment. After anesthesia stabilization, animals of group I received intravenously (IV) 5µg/kg of fentanil, animals of group II 1µg/kg of sufentanil IV and animals of group III 25µg/kg of alfentanil IV. Cardiovascular and respiratory parameters were evaluated in various time points. Data were statistically analyzed by means of analyses of variance for repeated measures followed by the Dunnett and Bonferoni post tests.All three agents caused bradicardia during the observation period but only alfentanil promoted significant hypotension. Only one animal that received fentanil showed increase of blood pressure and heart rate simultaneously during anesthesia. At recovery more animals treated with alfentanil showed signs of excitation. With the results obtained the authors could conclude that the use of opioids during anesthesia yield the use of low concentrations of halothane, what contributes with blood pressure maintenance. Among the agents utilized alfentanil promotes more pronounced cardiovascular effects.

fentanil; alfentanil; sufentanil; dog; halothane


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