Medetomidine HCl (alpha-2 adrenergic agonist) is a highly potent sedative and analgesic drug being used extensively in veterinary practice. It produces reliable degree of sedation, muscle relaxation and analgesia in different animal species.
Hypothesis:
On the basis of existing knowledge about medetomidine HCl it is hypothesized that medetomidine anesthesia alone as well as in combination with other anesthetics can overcome the prevailing hazards of different anesthetics.
Goals:
The goals of study were to investigate clinical suitability of "Medetomidine HCl" an alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonist drug alone and in combination with other drugs in different animals. A detailed clinico-biochemical study was carried out to explore the various aspects of this novel sedative and analgesic drug in different animal species. Analgesia was evaluated by checking presence and absence of various clinical reflexes and by performing certain surgical procedures under experimental conditions. Different experiments were designed in different animals to investigate the sedative and analgesic properties of medetomidine HCl. In dogs a clinico biochemical study was designed to see effect of this drug on clinical and hematological parameters at different doses alone and in combination with gas anesthesia. In equines the combination of this drug with other routinely used sedative and analgesic drugs was evaluated. In another study in bovine calves the epidural effect of this magic drug was evaluated. In cats this drug was evaluated in combination with Ketamine during major surgical intervention.
Methodology:
The parameters used to evaluate analgesia revealed that Medetomidine has greater potential to lessen the pain during minor and major surgical interventions in different animals. However, its epidural use also produced good analgesia of perineal region and at higher doses used epidurally its results can be compared with lignocain which is an ideal local anesthetic agent. Medetomidine produces general sedative effects after absorption from epidural space into general circulation. It was proved that in equines the drug can be used in combination Propofol, Ketamine and chloral hydrate for ideal sedative and analgesic effects and it compensated the side effects offered by these drugs when used alone. In addition it has an edge over other sedative drugs on account of its undetrimental effect on various physiological parameters of the animals. Detailed Clinical and hematologic studies have proved that Medetomidine "a novel sedative and analgesic" is the drug of choice for restraining, examination, minor and major surgical manipulations in equine, bovine, feline and canine species and it produces minimum untoward effects.
This study will definitely open the new horizons to choose good anesthetic agents alone or in the form of cocktail to minimize the hazards of conventional drugs to save the economics of country. Medetomidine was used in four different animal species (equine, bovine, canine and feline). In canine the drug proved to be an effective sedative and analgesic drug aone and in combination with volatile anesthetic giving anesthetic sparing effects and exerted minimum effects on clinical and hematological parameters. In felines medetomidine effectively replaced an older and commonly used drug xylazine for combination anesthesia for surgical interventions. In bovine the drug was used as epidural anesthetic and proved to give ideal local effects. In equine medetomidine HCl was used effectively in combination with other anesthetics and enhanced sedation, analgesia, induction, recumbancy and recovery paramerts. A prolonged and stable recumbancy period enables the surgeons to carry out major surgical interventions smoothly and without hazards. In past many drugs have been trailed in veterinary practice as sedative, analgesic and anesthetics like clonidine, xylazine and atipamazole but medetomidine HCl has replaced these drugs in terms of safety, efficacy and effectiveness.
In review of results of present studies it is recommended that medetomidine HCl can be used effectively for anesthesia in animals. In present study medetomidine HCl was trailed as anesthetic drug in different animals in variable experimental conditions and has proved to be an ideal sedative and analgesic. It can be used to handle different surgical conditions like suturing, removal of a tumour and cyst, to drain abcess, eye enucleation, roaring operation, cropping, tail docking, tenectomies, neurectomies, tracheostomy, dehorning and correction of prolapse. The drug can also be implied effectively alone or as preanesthetic in different major surgical interventions like evisceration, enterotomies, intestinal anastomosis, castration, penile amputation, spleenectomy ovariohysterectomy and cessarian section. In different experimental trails medetomidine HCl has shown its anesthetic efficacy alone and in combination with other drugs. It variably minimises the side effects and risk and dose rate of other anesthetic drugs used in combination. In addition the combination of medetomidine HCl prolonged the duration of surgical anesthesia and provided ideal analgesic effect. Anticipated difficulties were time frame for the conduct of trials and financial constraints faced which may have hampered clarification of some findings owing to the low number of animals in different groups this difficulty may be faced by future researchers especially in third world countries. Further studies and research could include effects of alpha-2 drugs for treating colic in equines and the evaluation of this drug in orthopedic surgery. And for Future research can be planned on muscle metabolic changes during and after anaesthesia in horses. With these techniques valuable information may be gained that would otherwise be overlooked. The present investigation was mainly undertaken to study the anesthetic role of medetomidine HCl in different animal species in order to deepen the understanding of physiologic and biochemical parameters during and after anaesthesia must be fully clearified. At the end there were some unanswered questions which can be effectively addressed if other aspects of this drug are studied. Some other aspects of medetomidine anesthesia need to be explored further in the future studies.