Nannarone Sara, Moretti Giulia, Bellocchi Federica, Menchetti Laura, Bufalari Antonello
Department of Veterinary Medicine, Perugia University, 06126 Perugia, Italy.
Animals (Basel). 2020 Aug 12;10(8):1402. doi: 10.3390/ani10081402.
The gray squirrel is one of the most common invasive species in Europe, whose presence is dangerous for the survival of the European red squirrel. To cope with this biological invasion and to safeguard biodiversity, the LIFE+U-SAVEREDS project aims to protect the red squirrel, by limiting the growth of the current population of gray squirrels and simultaneously promoting their eradication with surgical sterilization. This study compares two different anesthetic protocols, including dexmedetomidine (40 µg/kg) and midazolam (0.3 mg/kg) associated with ketamine (15 mg/kg; = 25 squirrels) or alfaxalone (5 mg/kg; = 22 squirrels). A blinded investigator evaluated the quality and onset of sedation, intraoperative anesthesia, and recovery, as well as the physiologic parameters for each animal. Alfaxalone provided a good quality of anesthesia with limited cardiovascular effects ( < 0.05) and good intraoperative myorelaxation. Ketamine induced complete relaxation in a shorter time ( < 0.05) and a rapid ( < 0.001) and excellent ( < 0.05) recovery. Despite the overall superiority of ketamine, alfaxalone appeared to be an adequate alternative anesthetic drug that can be administered without requiring intravascular access. It should be rapidly metabolized and excreted; however, it requires the combination of longer acting sedatives/myorelaxants to prevent a poor recovery quality.
灰松鼠是欧洲最常见的入侵物种之一，其存在对欧洲红松鼠的生存构成威胁。为应对这种生物入侵并保护生物多样性，“生命+U-SAVEREDS”项目旨在保护红松鼠，通过限制当前灰松鼠种群的增长，并同时通过手术绝育促进其根除。本研究比较了两种不同的麻醉方案，包括右美托咪定（40μg/kg）和咪达唑仑（0.3mg/kg）联合氯胺酮（15mg/kg；n=25只松鼠）或阿法沙龙（5mg/kg；n=22只松鼠）。一名盲法研究者评估了镇静的质量和起效时间、术中麻醉和恢复情况，以及每只动物的生理参数。阿法沙龙提供了良好的麻醉质量，心血管影响有限（P<0.05），术中肌肉松弛良好。氯胺酮在较短时间内诱导完全松弛（P<0.05），恢复迅速（P<0.001）且良好（P<0.05）。尽管氯胺酮总体上更具优势，但阿法沙龙似乎是一种合适的替代麻醉药物，无需血管内给药即可使用。它应能快速代谢和排泄；然而，它需要联合使用作用时间更长的镇静剂/肌肉松弛剂以防止恢复质量不佳。
