Objective

To evaluate the effect of dexmedetomidine on alfaxalone immobilization in snakes.

Study design

Nonblinded, crossover study.

Animals

A total of eight mature common garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis).

Methods

Snakes were administered each of three treatments intracoelomically: alfaxalone (30 mg kg^–1; treatment A), alfaxalone (30 mg kg^–1) combined with dexmedetomidine (0.05 mg kg^–1; treatment AD0.05); and alfaxalone (30 mg kg^–1) combined with dexmedetomidine (0.10 mg kg^–1; treatment AD0.10). A minimum of 10 days elapsed between experimental trials. Times to loss of righting reflex (LRR) and return of righting reflex (RRR) were recorded. Heart rate (HR) was recorded every 5 minutes throughout the period of LRR and averaged for each snake. Times to LRR and RRR, and mean HR in snakes that achieved LRR were reported.

Results

LRR occurred in eight (100%), five (63%) and three (38%) snakes in treatments A, AD0.05 and AD0.10, respectively. For all treatments, time to LRR ranged 3–20 minutes. Median (range) times to RRR were 39 (30–46), 89 (62–128) and 77 (30–185) minutes for treatments A, AD0.05 and AD0.10, respectively. In animals where righting reflex was lost, mean HR was lower in all dexmedetomidine treatments compared with treatment A.

Conclusions and clinical relevance

In this pilot study, alfaxalone resulted in reliable immobilization, whereas dexmedetomidine and alfaxalone combinations resulted in highly variable durations of immobilization with low HR in immobilized animals. For snakes that achieved LRR, the addition of dexmedetomidine (0.05 mg kg^–1) to alfaxalone appeared to extend the period of immobilization compared with alfaxalone alone.

中文翻译：

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结肠内曲沙酮右美托咪定对普通袜带蛇（Thamnophis sirtalis）的扶正反射的影响：初步数据。

目的

为了评估右美托咪定对阿尔法鲍鱼固定在蛇中的作用。

学习规划

非盲，交叉研究。

动物

共有8条成熟的普通吊袜蛇（Thamnophis sirtalis）。

方法

蛇麻痹地进行了三种治疗的蛇毒治疗：阿法沙酮（30 mg kg ^-1；治疗A），阿法沙酮（30 mg kg ^-1）与右美托咪定（0.05 mg kg ^-1； AD0.05处理）；并用阿法沙酮（30 mg kg ^–1）联合右美托咪定（0.10 mg kg ^–1；治疗AD0.10）。两次实验之间至少要间隔10天。记录失去正向反射（LRR）和恢复正向反射（RRR）的时间。在整个LRR期间，每5分钟记录一次心率（HR），并对每条蛇取平均值。报告了达到LRR和RRR的时间，以及达到LRR的蛇的平均HR。

结果

在治疗A，AD0.05和AD0.10中，分别有8条（100％），5条（63％）和3条（38％）的蛇发生LRR。对于所有治疗，达到LRR的时间为3-20分钟。治疗A，AD0.05和AD0.10的平均（范围）时间分别为39（30-46）分钟，89（62-128）和77（30-185）分钟。在失去对位反射的动物中，与治疗A相比，所有右美托咪定治疗的平均HR较低。

结论与临床意义

在这项先导研究中，依法沙酮可实现可靠的固定，而右美托咪定和依法沙酮的组合可在固定的动物中产生高度可变的固定时间，且HR较低。对于达到LRR的蛇，与单独使用依法沙酮相比，向右法沙酮中添加右美托咪定（0.05 mg kg ^–1）似乎可以延长固定时间。