Distance between the skin and the lumbosacral epidural space in dogs

• Published in: The Japanese Journal of Veterinary Research Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 35 - 40
• Main Authors: Toshie Iseri, Ryohei Nishimura, Shotaro Nagahama, Takayuki Nakagawa, Yuka Fujimoto, Nobuo Sasaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Japanese
• Published: Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Hokkaido University 01.02.2019
• ISSN: 0047-1917
• DOI: 10.14943/jjvr.67.1.35

[Abstract] To measure the skin to lumbosacral epidural space distance (SED) and investigate its correlation with age, body weight (BW) and body condition score (BCS) in dogs. Client-owned dogs (n = 123) that received epidural anesthesia, SED was measured. Correlations were determined between SED and age, BW, and BCS. The mean age was 6.8 +- 4.5 years (n = 118), BW was 10.5 +- 8.3 kg and SED was 26.8 +- 8.1 mm. SED correlated with BW (r = 0.78, P < 0.01) and BCS (r = 0.26, P = 0.004). Dogs were classified into thin (BCS 1 and 2; n = 13), standard (BCS 3; n = 76), and obese (BCS 4 and 5; n = 34) groups, the mean SED in the thin, standard, and obese groups was 24.1 +- 7.5, 25.7 +- 7.8 and 30.2 +- 7.7 mm, respectively; there were significant correlations between SED and BW in each group. SED = 0.54 * BW + 17.2 (P < 0.05, r = 0.57) in the thin group, SED = 0.77 * BW + 18.2 (P < 0.001, r = 0.82) in the standard group and SED = 0.81 * BW + 21.3 (P < 0.001, r = 0.74) in the obese group. This result provide useful information for safe lumbosacral epidural anesthesia in dogs.