Procaine Hydrochloride With Epinephrine Bitartrate

Procaine Hydrochloride With Epinephrine Bitartrate In Dogs & Cats: Uses, Dosage and Side Effects

Overview

• The local anaesthetic action is based on a reversible blockade of the sodium channel.
• This blockade prevents the propagation of an action potential along the nerve fibre.
• Sensory nerve fibres are typically blocked before motor nerve fibres, resulting in selective sensory blockade, especially at lower doses.
• The addition of epinephrine to procaine can prolong the duration of action by decreasing the rate of systemic absorption, thus enhancing the effectiveness of local anaesthesia.

Uses of Procaine hydrochloride with
epinephrine bitartrate

• To provide local anaesthesia via perineural injection.

Dose of Procaine hydrochloride with
epinephrine bitartrate in Dogs and Cats

Dogs:

• 0.25–1.0 ml s.c.

Cats:

• 0.25–1.0 ml s.c.

Side Effects of Procaine hydrochloride with
epinephrine bitartrate in Dogs and Cats

• Inadvertent intravascular injection may precipitate severe cardiac arrhythmias that are refractory to treatment.

Contraindications of Procaine hydrochloride with
epinephrine bitartrate in Dogs and Cats

• Do not administer this substance intravenously, intra-articularly, or epidurally.
• It should not be used for intravenous regional anaesthesia.
• When using vasoconstrictors like epinephrine in lower limb blocks, exercise caution due to the potential risk of digital ischemia or when there is an expectation of significant systemic absorption of the drug.

Some Notes:

• Procaine has a shorter duration of action than lidocaine or bupivacaine (50 minutes in humans), although the addition of epinephrine will prolong the duration of action compared to the administration of procaine alone.