Atualizações sobre adjuvantes anestésicos e anestesia locorregional na Medicina Veterinária de pequenos animais

Abstract

Opioid analgesics are drugs widely used for pain control in veterinary medicine. In anesthetic protocols, the use of opioids in a liberal way has been discussed, mainly due to the side effects caused. The use of analgesics alone or in large concentrations are associated with adverse effects such as respiratory depression and prolonged sedation, and do not always promote effective analgesia. In this scenario, the concept of multimodal analgesia is gaining space and increasingly, combinations of two or more agents with different mechanisms of action are being studied. Regional anesthesia also presents itself as a synergistic tool to multimodal protocols, allowing localized blockages and reducing the use of general anesthetics. This combined therapy can promote greater analgesia by potentiating the drugs, in addition to requiring lower doses of each agent, reducing adverse effects. The present literature review aimed to present updates about the use of anesthetic adjuvants and locoregional anesthesia in veterinary medicine for small animals. Thus, it was treated on α2 adrenergic agonists, magnesium sulfate, maropitant citrate, ketamine and lidocaine as anesthetic adjuvants, in addition to a review on locoregional anesthesia and its advances. It was found that the use of analgesic adjuvants and locoregional anesthesia in multimodal protocols brings benefits such as the reduction of the need for postoperative analgesic rescue, the use of opioids, a decrease in the use of general anesthetics and the depressant effects of these drugs, in addition to a greater requirement for technical training so that the professional can perform more precise blocks with the help of a neurostimulator and ultrasound.