Electro-acupuncture (EA) has been used as an adjuvant of general anesthesia in men and animals. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of EA on propofol dose for induction of anesthesia in dogs. Twenty healthy adult crossbred dogs were used and randomly distributed in two groups (n=10 per group): GEA dogs were submitted to EA in the acupoints stomach 36, gall bladder 34 and spleen 6, bilaterally, for 45 minutes before induction of anesthesia. Dogs in the control group (GC) were not treated before induction of anesthesia. Animals were sedated with 0.05mg kg-1 of acepromazine intravenously. Anesthesia was induced with intravenous propofol using a 0.2ml.kg.min-1 infusion rate 60 minutes after sedation. The statistical analysis was accomplished by the unpaired t test to compare differences between groups (P<0.05). Values are presented as mean±SD. There was no significant difference in the dose of propofol required to abolish the podal withdrawal reflex between groups (5.0±2.0mg kg-1 for the control group and 5.2±1.6mg kg-1 for the EA treated group), suggesting that EA did not potentiate propofol anesthesia in dogs.
electroacupuncture; propofol; dog
