Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover Vergleichende Studie zur

Publikation 2
can definitely be regarded as a disadvantage of INH anaesthesia. In a study on
calves (Olson et al. 1983) found that cold-stressed calves show a linear decrease in
leucocytes and may thus compromise natural host defence capabilities. In man,
hypothermia adversely affects antibody- and cell-mediated immune defences, as well
as the oxygen availability in the peripheral wound tissues. Consequentially,
postoperative hypothermia is known to increase the incidence in surgical wound
infections and is furthermore associated with delayed post-anaesthetic recovery
(Doufas 2003; Polderman 2009).
Increased economic pressures have caused selection against general anaesthesia
and the need for practical, cheap and safe alternatives within the legal framework of
food animal practice is apparent. The inhalation anaesthesia will certainly remain the
gold standard in calf anaesthesia, but from a practical point of view, repeated
ketamine injections are difficult to accomplish when unassisted. However, qualified
assistance definitely becomes a prerequisite when anaesthetic machines are utilised.
Personnel expenditures, acquisition costs and regular maintenance of anaesthetical
machines will, even in the future, limit inhalation anaesthesia subject to use within
large animal clinics. In contrast, high volume caudal epidural anaesthesia requires a
single application and no sophisticated or expensive equipment.
In summary, high volume caudal epidural application of xylazine and procaine in
combination with local rhomboid infiltration of local anaesthetic around the umbilicus
and pre-emptive application of flunixine-meglumine provided a practical, inexpensive
and safe anaesthetic protocol for calves undergoing umbilical surgery, as it has little
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