Abstract
Aim: This study compare the analgesic effects of lignocaine alone and in combination with diclofenac administered epidurally for the management of post-operative pain in dogs undergoing femoral exposure.
Methods: Eight (n=8) apparently healthy Nigerian local dogs weighing 9.6 ± 2.1 kg were randomly assigned to two groups (A and B) of four each. Dogs in group A received epidural administration of 2% lignocaine (5mg/kg), group B received diclofenac (3mg/kg) and 2% lignocaine (5mg/kg) epidurally. Pain assessment was done using clinical algometer for the evaluation of mechanical pain threshold, physiologic parameter (rectal temperature, pulse rate and respiratory rate assessment), haematologic parameters (total white blood cell and differential neutrophils counts) were measured before drug administration (baseline) and subsequently at 30, 60, 90, 120, 150 and 180minutes respectively. The mean values of each parameter were subjected to statistical analysis using student t-test for comparison between groups.
Result: Mechanical pain threshold has lowest recording at 0 min with peak recording at 30 min and significantly differed (p<0.05) between group A and B at 180minute. Rectal temperature and pulse rate showed no statistical significance difference (p>0.05) at any time interval for both groups. Respiratory rates were statistically significant at 120, 150 and 180minutes between the groups. No significant differences (p>0.05) between groups A and B were found for the white blood cell and neutrophils counts.
Conclusion: This study demostrated that, the epidurally administered lignocaine alone provided a similar analgesic effect to combination of lignocaine and diclofenac administered epidurally for up to three hours in dogs undergoing femoral exposure.

Key words: Analgesia, Diclofenac sodium, Epidural analgesia, Lignocaine hydrochloride, Nigerian local Dog.