title: Dose response to butorphanol administered subcutaneously to increase visceral nociceptive threshold in dogs.
abstract: Butorphanol (0.025, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 mg/kg of body weight, and placebo) was given SC to 8 healthy unmedicated dogs to determine its efficacy for visceral analgesia, using a colonic balloon for minimal threshold nociceptor stimulation. Degree of sedation; systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressure; and pulse rate were recorded. The highest 3 dosages, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8 mg/kg, were found to be most effective, with 0.8 mg/kg the only dosage that was significantly different from control responses at the 45-minute interval. Duration of analgesia ranged from 23 to 53 minutes for all 6 dosages and dosing durations were not significantly different from one another. Blood pressures did not change, but pulse rate was significantly decreased by 0.8 mg of butorphanol/kg. We concluded that butorphanol is an effective visceral analgesic of relatively short duration in the dog.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing 48824-1314.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Rech
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Adams
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Striler
mesh_terms: D000698:Analgesia / Q000662:veterinary*; D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000187:drug effects; D002077:Butorphanol / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D004285:Dogs / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D009619:Nociceptors / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D011674:Pulse / Q000187:drug effects; D014781:Viscera / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D002077:Butorphanol