Sacrococcygeal epidural injection of morphine and ropivacaine provides analgesia after feline ovariohysterectomy.

Sacrococcygeal epidural morphine and ropivacaine provides effective, long-lasting post-OVH analgesia in cats, reducing NSAID rescue requirements.

This prospective, randomized, blinded clinical trial evaluated the analgesic efficacy of sacrococcygeal epidural injection (SCEI) using preservative-free morphine (0.1 mg/kg) and ropivacaine (0.93 mg/kg) in a total volume of 0.75 mL/kg following feline ovariohysterectomy (OVH). Fifty-eight systemically healthy intact cats were equally divided into control and epidural groups. All cats received standard analgesic premedication and isoflurane-maintained anesthesia. Post-operatively, a blinded anesthesiologist assessed pain at seven time points over 20 hours using the Feline Grimace Scale (FGS) and the UFEPS-SF multidimensional pain scale, along with monitoring urination and pelvic limb neurological function. Rescue analgesia with robenacoxib was administered when pain scores exceeded defined thresholds. Results demonstrated that SCEI significantly reduced the need for rescue analgesia, with only 21% of epidural cats requiring robenacoxib compared to 83% of controls. Pain scores were significantly lower in the epidural group at 1 hour (FGS) and 1–4 hours (UFEPS-SF). The technique provided analgesia lasting up to 20 hours post-OVH. A notable side effect was delayed urination in the epidural group, attributed to the local anesthetic component. Pelvic limb neurological function returned to normal within expected timeframes. The authors conclude that SCEI represents a viable and effective analgesic alternative for feline OVH, particularly when NSAIDs are contraindicated, with duration of analgesia comparable to a single NSAID dose.

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