Ileocystoplasty in chinchilla rabbit bucks: A pilot study on Katamine-Xylazine Anaesthesia

Introduction

Ketamine hydrochlorine anaesthesia is dissociative general anaesthesia that is used in combination with a skeletal muscle relaxant like xylazine hydrochloride to enhance a balanced anaesthesia [1,2] . It is a unique intravenous (IV) and intramuscular anaesthetic that is use to achieve a wide spectrum of pharmacological effects such as: somatic analgesia, sedation, catalepsy, sympathetic nervous system stimulation and bronchodilation. It has been in clinical use since 1970 [3,4,5] . It is often use with other drugs to achieve a smooth anaesthesia like Xylazine. Xylazine hydrochloride is an alpha 2 adrenoceptor drug that has muscle relaxant, sedative analysis pharmacologic properties and commonly combined with Ketamine for routine procedures in Veterinary practice [1] . Xylazine is use as predicament to avert impending danger of side effects such as; Respiratory depression associated with ketamine administration. It is pharmacological drug that is widely use in veterinary practice as predicament in cattle, horses, dogs cats and rabbits for minor and major surgical procedures like overcohysterectory, ileocystoplaty and other procedures [5][6][7] . Ketmine-Xylazine in rabbits provide adequate analgesia [1] . For short term anaesthesia of rabbits the dose most frequently used is 35mgkg body weight and 5mg/kg body weight of Xylazine [2][3] . In the present study the anaesthetic effects of Ketamine-Xylazine combination at the dose of 45mg/kg weight and 5mg/kg body weight respectively evaluated for pilot ileocystoplasty study in rabbits [8][9][10][11][12] .

Materials and Methods

Annual Selection Housing, Actualization and feeding

The buck chinchilla rabbit weighed 1.88+.25kg and aged 7.82+0.5 was kept in individual cage on intensive management system in the animal housing facility of the college of Veterinary medicine, Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi (JOSTUM). The rabbits were fed with commercial ruminant Pelletized Feed (make by Vital Feed Limited Kaduna, Nigeria) and forage feed.

The rabbits were acclimatized for the period of two (2) weeks before the experimental procedure. During the period of acclimatization, a routine prophylxis was administered with antibiotic, Oxytetxcycline at the dose 15mg/kg body weight and dewormer, Albendazole at the dose of 20mg/kg body weights. The Haematological, physiological and clinical parameters were evaluated and certified fit for all experimental animals before ramdomly picking one for commencement of the pilot study. For this study, a total of 4 rabbits were selected at random into two groups of 2 rabbits (Fig. 1,2,3).

Experimental Site

The research work was conducted at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, small animal surgical theatre facility, South Core, Department of Veterinary Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging, Joseph Sarwua Tarka University Makurdi.

Anaesthetic Protocol

After injection of ketamine and xylazine were administered at the dose of 45mg/kg body weight and 5mg/ kg bodby weight respectively. The depth was evaluated base on the negative pin pricked responses. The skin at the abdominal wall of the surgical landmark was pricked. The responses at these areas indicated the degree of anaesthesia, which is expressed as the number of negative responses, which is failure of twitch, 3/3 indicated maximum anaesthesia and 0/3 indicated no anaesthesia. The test was repeated at 10 minutes intervals for a period of 60 minutes. Prior to onset of the study the rabbit was fasted for six (6) hours before anaesthetic induction. A dose of 5mg/kg body weight of Xylazine was administered intramuscularly for ten (10) minutes then followed by a dose of 45mg/kg body weight Ketamine intramuscular induction in this study. While 1/3 maintenance doses of Ketamine were given in the situation of anaesthetic recovery before completion of the surgery (Fig. 1,2,3).

Surgical procedure

All rabbits in groups 1 were subjected to ileocystoplasty where a defect was created on the urinary bladder and closed with a 4 cm tissue graft that was harvested from the ileum using chromic cat gut size 4-0. The laparotomy closure was carried out with nylon size 3-0. Bucks rabbits in group 2 were not subjected to surgery.

Measured physiological parameters

Heart rate, respiratory rate, pulse rate and body temperature were observed prior to anaesthetic induction at 0 hour and during anaesthesia at 0, 2, 12, 24, 36 and 72 hours and recorded in table 2.

Statistical Analysis

dependent -sample test was used to compared parameters among different groups. Paired samples T-test was used to compare the changes in value of each parameter. Significant was determine when P<0.005, and all statistical analysis were carried out6 using SPSS software. All results are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and data obtained were tabulated.

Ethical Clearance

Ethical Clearance for this study was obtained from Ethical committee of Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi.

Results

Discussion

Rabbits are commonly used in veterinary procedures, including experimental surgery and biomedical research (Kihç, 2004). However, they pose a significant challenge in anesthesia due to the narrow margin between surgical anesthesia and respiratory arrest (Kamal et al., 2019). The rabbit's respiratory center is particularly susceptible to the depressive effects of anesthesia, leading to a high mortality rate during anesthesia (Kaya et al., 2002). Anesthesia is essential for various surgical operations in rabbits, including sedation for blood collection, intravenous cannula installation, neutering, gastrotomy, cystotomy, and fracture fixation (Brodbelt, 2009). When proper safety protocols are followed, such as using the correct anesthetics and adhering to specified dosing schedules, administering anesthetics to rabbits is considered safe. Timeline (Table 1). In the table, onset of anaesthesia representing the time from injection of the anaesthetics to the time the desired level of loss of pain or unconsciousness was observed to start, 3.35±0.1minutes and 3.34±0.6 minutes for group 1 and 2 respectively. Various methods were used to evaluate the anaesthesia viz; pin pricked, ear pinch, pedal pinch and righting reflexes were used. Balance surgical anaesthesia evidenced by loss of pains, smooth muscular relaxantion and smooth recovery was observed following xylazine predicament and ketamine induction in the pilot ileocystoplasty [1 13, 14] . The surgery was successful in all rabbits bucks used in this study The outset of xylazine sedation was achieve a mean period of 3.35±0.1minutes and 3.34±0.6 minutes for group 1 and 2 respectively, the duration of anaesthesia lasted for a period of 82.14±0.4minutes and 80.02±0.3 minutes for group 1 and 2 respectively the duration of surgery was 75.93 minutes in group 1 (see table 1) [15][16][17] . The outset of sedation was achieved in a period of 3.20±0.2 and 3.10±0.12 minutes for group 1 and 2 respectively, the outset was faster than 3.42± 1.3 minutes reported by Booth Mc and Donalds [4] ; Sathekumar [1,15] . The present onset of sedetion was also shorter than 35.5 minutes reported by Booth and Mc Donald [4,16] and 45.0± 6.1 minutes reported by Satheshkumar [1,17] . The period of complete recovery from surgical anesthesia was 129.41 minutes and 126.26±3.8minutes for group 1 and 2 respectively, against 160.0 minutes reported Satheshkumar [1,18] and 105 minutes reported by Booth and McDonald [4,19] . The values of respiratory, temperature, pulse rate and heart rates are recorded in table 2. All the parameters were significantly decreased at 2 hours post induction in both groups. Physiological parameters can be affected by various factors, including surgical pain, anesthesia, and analgesia (21). This study's findings align with Karasu et al. (22), demonstrating that combining xylazine and ketamine anesthesia in rabbits' results in decreased vital parameters. Specifically, pulse and respiratory rates measured at 2-and 12-hours post-surgery showed significant reductions. Notably, the lowest values were recorded 2 hours after surgery, indicating the most pronounced effect of anesthesia on vital parameters during this period. Additionally, the duration of anaesthesia represents the depth or duration of loss of consciousness or pain sensation on pain stimulus induced by pin pricked, ear pricket and pedal twitched.

Conclusion

The present dose of ketamine hydrochloride anesthesia of 45mg/kg body weight premedicated with xylazine hydrochloride at the dose of 5mg/kg body weight produced a rapid anesthesia and smooth muscle relaxation sufficient throughout invasive ileocystoplasty pilot case study. Smooth anaesthesia and recovery of rabbit that underwent ileoscystoplasty was evidence in this study. These findings can guide future researchers and clinicians to optimizing anaesthetics protocols for animals' safety,

Recommendation

Observation from the pilot study, it can be recommended that ketamine HCl, at the dose of 45 mg/kg body weight with Xylazine HCl, 5 mg/kg body weight produced sufficiently profuse smooth anesthesia and can be conveniently used for ileocystoplasty in rabbits. Further investigation should be carried out to investigate the impact of ketamine -xylazine anaesthesia on haematological and biochemical parameters.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementThe authors are thankful to all staff of small animal surgery theatre facility, South Core, Department of Veterinary Surgery and Diagnostic Imaging, JOSTUM for their supports rendered during this study.

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