Sufentanil and medetomidine anaesthesia in the rat and its reversal with atipamezole and butorphanol

Abstract

Injectable anaesthetics are widely used to anaesthetize rats, but recovery times are often prolonged. Reversible anaesthetic regimens have the advantage that animals may be recovered quickly, thus reducing the incidence of postoperative complications such as hypothermia, and also providing a means of treating inadvertent anaesthetic overdose. This study assessed and compared the characteristics of anaesthesia induced with combinations of sufentanil and medetomidine administered as a single subcutaneous or intraperitoneal dose, and reversal with butorphanol and atipamezole. Combinations of sufentanil/medetomidine at 40 mu g/150 mu g and 50 mu g/150 mu g/kg administered subcutaneously, and 80 mu g/300 mu g/kg by intraperitoneal injection were found to produce surgical anaesthesia for 101 +/- 49, 124 +/- 45 and 76 +/- 23 min (means +/- SD) respectively. All three combinations produced marked respiratory depression 30 min after injection (

Keywords

rat; anaesthesia; sufentanil; medetomidine; atipamezole; butorphanol

Published in

Laboratory Animals
2000, volume: 34, number: 3, pages: 244-251
Publisher: ROYAL SOC MEDICINE PRESS LTD

SLU Authors

• Hedenqvist, Patricia

  • Karolinska Institute

UKÄ Subject classification

Clinical Science

Publication identifier

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1258/002367700780384762

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/85309