Ultrasound-guided lateral pericapsular hip desensitization of the articular branches of the cranial gluteal nerve: A canine cadaveric study and feasibility study in dogs.

Objective: To develop and assess the feasibility, as a diagnostic block, of an ultrasound-guided lateral pericapsular hip desensitization (L-PHD) technique in dogs.

Study Design: Prospective, randomized, anatomical and feasibility study.

Animals: A total of 11 canine cadavers and eight adult dogs scheduled for acetabular surgical denervation.

Methods: After studying the ultrasound anatomy of the lateral aspect of the gluteal region and determining an acoustic window to perform an ultrasound-guided L-PHD in three canine cadavers, the right and left hemipelves of eight canine cadavers were injected in the interfascial plane located lateral (L-PHD group) or medial (L-PHD group) to the deep gluteal muscle, with 0.05 mL kg of dye per hip on each cadaver. The staining of the pericapsular nerves was assessed by anatomical dissection. Then, the L-PHD was performed using 2% lidocaine as a diagnostic block in dogs scheduled for acetabular surgical denervation. Positive predictive value (PPV) was calculated for those animals who had favorable outcomes after acetabular surgical denervation.

Results: The ultrasound-guided L-PHD and L-PHD could be performed by inserting the needle lateral and medial to the deep gluteal muscle. Ultrasound-guided L-PHD stained the cranial gluteal nerve and its muscular branches in all injections and partially stained the lumbosacral trunk in two out of eight cadavers. The L-PHD selectively stained the articular branches of the cranial gluteal nerve in all but one cadaver. The PPV for L-PHD successful test prediction was 85.7% (95% confidence interval: 48.6% to 98.6%).

Conclusions: and clinical significance Ultrasound-guided L-PHD using 0.05 mL kg of dye selectively stained the articular branches of the cranial gluteal nerve in canine cadavers. The L-PHD technique is feasible and could be used as a diagnostic block before acetabular surgical denervation in dogs.