Combined Epidural Lidocaine and Medetomidine-Ketamine isoflurane Anaesthesia for management of Femoral Fracture in a Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus)

Abstract

A 17 kg adult female cheetah was presented with a history of lameness of the left hind limb sustained in the wild approximately a week earlier. The animal was anaesthetized for clinical examination by darting using medetomidine-ketamine cocktail. Palpation of the left mid-shaft femur revealed a firm swelling and crepitation. Radiography confirmed a complete transverse and overriding fracture of the left femur which required open reduction and internal fixation. Hematology revealed lymphocytosis while biochemistry showed hypoproteinemia, hypoglobulinemia and low alanine aminotransferase activity. Epidural lidocaine hydrochloride was administered in the lumbosacral region to supplement medetomidine-ketamine- isoflurane anaesthesia for the surgical procedure. Isoflurane concentration was maintained at 0.5-1.0% using a rebreathing anaesthesia machine throughout the surgery. Temperature and cardiopulmonary parameters remained stable intra-operatively. Hind limb paralysis extended for about seven hours post-operatively, suggestive of prolonged post-operative local anaesthesia. The successful management of this surgical procedure demonstrated the suitability of using the described anaesthesia protocol in surgical procedures of the hind limbs in wild felidae.