Clinical and Antinociceptive Effects of Distal Inferior Alveolar Nerve Block in Ponies With Tramadol 5% or Lidocaine 2.

The study explores the pain-relieving effects of tramadol 5% and lidocaine 2% when used for mental nerve block in Brazilian Pony breed horses, revealing that tramadol 5% has a longer-lasting antinociceptive effect than lidocaine 2%.

Research Approach and Methodology

• For the experiment, eight adult, non-pregnant female ponies from the Brazilian Pony breed were selected. These ponies were initially sedated using acepromazine injection.
• Subsequently, these ponies were treated with either 5% tramadol (Treatment 1) or 2% lidocaine (Treatment 2), with each drug being disbursed in each mental foramen at a total dose of 3 ml.
• Vital parameters such as heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic arterial pressure (the maximum pressure during one heartbeat), diastolic arterial pressure (minimum pressure between two heartbeats), mean arterial pressure, rectal temperature, and the presence of skin lesions were constantly monitored and recorded.
• Furthermore, the study evaluated the level of pain response – nociception – in the outer lip, inner lip, and gums of the ponies by applying distinctive stimuli through an electronic von Frey device. The researchers then monitored how the ponies reacted to each stimulus, thus determining latency time (time it took for a reaction to occur) and duration of antinociception (pain relief).

Results and Findings

• Upon analyzing16 different observations for each studied parameter (heart rate, respiratory rate, systolic arterial pressure, diastolic arterial pressure, mean arterial pressure, latency time, and duration of antinociception), the researchers observed that changes in heart rate, respiratory rate, and arterial pressures were likely associated with the effect of the acepromazine tranquilizer and did not significantly differ between the two treatments.
• No skin lesions resulted from either treatment, indicating that both were well-tolerated. The latency times for pain response in the ponies also did not show any significant difference between tramadol and lidocaine.
• Both tramadol 5% and lidocaine 2% were found to produce an antinociceptive effect or pain relief in the tested ponies. However, the duration of the antinociceptive effect of tramadol 5% was observed to be longer than that of lidocaine 2%.