Avaliação do bloqueio bilateral do tronco do nervo pudendo em gatos com obstrução uretral / Assessment of the bilateral block of the trunk of the pudendal nerve in cats with urethral obstruction

ABSTRACT

Background: Clinical care of cats with urethral obstruction is a common routine in feline clinical medicine and the re-establishment of urinary flow is essential for long-lasting correction of the pathophysiological alterations presented. For this chemical restraint is usually employed, that together with the alteration, increases the anesthetic risk of these patients. Improvement in anesthetic techniques, especially the loco-regional, may contribute to reducing the anesthetic risk of these patients and facilitate maneuvers to clear the obstruction. Thus the objective of the present study was to describe and assess the bilateral block technique of the pudendal nerve in 16 cats with urethral obstruction.Materials, Methods & Results: Sixteen male crossbred cats were used, with partial or total urethral obstruction, attended at the Veterinary Hospital of the Federal University of Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. The anesthetic block of the pudendal nerve trunk was carried out by placing the local anesthetic close to the ventral foramen of the second sacral vertebra, using a 13 x 0.45 mm needle attached to a 1 mL syringe. To assess the effectiveness of the bilateral block, the analgesia promoted was assessed using the substitute (“Reaction to Palpating the Surgical Wound” of subscale 1 (pain expression) of the “Compound Multi-dimensional Scale to Assess Post Operational Pain in Cats”. This assessment was made before the bilateral block (M0) and 10 min afterwards (M1) and the scores ranged from 0 to 3. In addition, a segmental assessment of the urethra was made, where, by passing a probe the sensitivity was assessed of the urethral ostium, penile and pelvic urethra and the relaxing of the external urethral sphincter. This assessment was made at M1 and classified as present or absent.[...]