Tumescent local anesthesia with lidocaine in dogs undergoing mastectomy

The present study investigated the benefits of tumescent anesthesia with lidocaine in dogs undergoing mastectomy, seeking the patients' comfort and their postoperative recovery. Seven animals, with different weight and breed, who had cancer in the region of mammary chain underwent mastectomy surgery. All animals received the same anesthetic protocol being used as the association between acepromazine and morphine doses of 0.04mg.kg(-1) and 0.4mg.kg(-1) (IM), respectively. After 15 minutes a catheter was placed in the cephalic vein and induction with propofol 4mg.kg(-1) and 0.2mg.kg(-1) followed by maintenance with isoflurane anesthesia was done. After instrumentation, we proceeded to the tumescent anesthesia technique with ice-cold solution consisting of Ringer's lactate, lidocaine 2% without epinephrine and adrenaline in a total volume of 15mL.kg(-1). The average duration of the procedure was 74+/-18 minutes. The plasmatic peak of lidocaine was between 30 and 60 minutes after infiltration. The rescue analgesic was performed after approximately seven hours of infiltration. It can be concluded that the tumescent anesthesia with lidocaine should be considered as a constituent of anesthetic and analgesic protocol in dogs undergoing mastectomy surgery providing parameter stability, safety and good quality postoperative recovery.