Anaesthesia with medetoTnidine-ketamine-isoflurane with and without midazolam, in eight captive Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) premedicated with oral zuclopenthixol

摘要

In 8 captive adult chimpanzees of various ages pre-medicated with oral zuclopenthixol anaesthesia was induced intramuscularly with a combination of me-detomidine and ketamine (40 or 50 ug/kg and 5 mg/ kg, IM, respectively), with and without midazolam(0.05mg/kg), and maintained with isoflurane in oxygen. At the end of the procedure, sedation was reversed with atipamezole (0.25 mg/kg, IM) and sar-mazenil (0.005 mg/kg, IM) when midazolam had been administered. Oral zuclopenthixol resulted in tran-quillization of the whole group and only one animal required a second dart injection to achieve adequately deep anaesthesia. Effective and reliable anaesthesia was achieved in all apes; the depth of hypnosis was stable and sudden arousal did not occur. Physiological parameters remained within normal ranges in the majority of the animals; however, manageable anaesthesia-related complications, namely apnoea after darting, hypotension, hypoventilation, hypoxemia and prolonged recovery, occurred in 6 out of 8 animals. The use of monitoring devices was essential to guarantee adequate management of these complications.