Physiologic effects of electroacupuncture combined with intramuscular administration of xylazine to provide analgesia in goats

Abstract

Electroacupuncture combined with xylazine, even at 0.1 mg/kg, provided analgesia without significantly affecting cardiorespiratory parameters or rectal temperature in goats.

Effects of Electroacupuncture of Different Frequencies on the Release Profile of Endogenous Opioid Peptides in the Central Nerve System of Goats

“…Numerous studies showed that EA at a set of Baihui, Santai, Ergen, and Sanyangluo acupoints elicited an effective analgesia in cattle [5]. Liu et al [12] demonstrated that EA at this set of acupoints caused a potent analgesic effect in goats. In this study, we adopted this set of acupoints and obtained a similar analgesic effect as Liu did [12].…”

“…The anatomic location of these points has been described in detail in veterinary medicine [12, 14]. Needle insertion and EA were conducted with the method reported by Liu et al [12].…”

“…The anatomic location of these points has been described in detail in veterinary medicine [12, 14]. Needle insertion and EA were conducted with the method reported by Liu et al [12]. Experimental animals were restrained in right recumbency, and stimulated with EA at 0, 2, 40, 60, 80, or 100 Hz for 30 min via WQ-6F Electronic Acupunctoscope (Beijing Xindonghua Electronic Instrument Co., Ltd., Beijing, China).…”

“…Just before and after EA, the pain threshold was measured on the center of the left flank using the method of potassium iontophoresis [12, 15, 16]. The region used to measure pain threshold was shaved, cleaned with soap and water, and sterilized with 75% alcohol.…”

“…In order to quantitatively estimate the degree of acupuncture-induced analgesia, some researchers used an anesthetic to ensure a complete analgesia and to assess the reduction of the amount of the anesthetics consumed in the EA plus anesthetic group as compared to the anesthetic group without acupuncture. Studies showed that EA in combination with anesthetics resulted in the reduction of the dosage of the anesthetics in human, rat, and goat by 45%–55%, 50%–60%, and over 75%, respectively [12, 13]. It is clear that the analgesic effect induced by EA in goats (ruminants) is superior to that in rats or human.…”