The study was conducted to determine the effect of acupuncture on pain response and wound healing in goats. Eighteen apparently healthy 1-3 years old female Philippine native goats, weighing 10-20 kg were divided randomly into three groups and subjected to the following: a) distal paravertebral nerve block (DPNB) using lidocaine hydrochloride; 2) conventional needle acupuncture (CNA); and 3) aquapuncture using 2% chili pepper decoction (AQ). Exploratory laparotomy was conducted and analgesia, clinical responses, cortisol level, wound healing rate and gross appearance of wounds were determined. Good to excellent surgical analgesia was produced in all six sheep of DPNB, five animals in AQ and one animal in CNA. No differences in clinical response and cortisol level were observed among the treatment groups. The three treatment groups had similar or comparable wound healing rates but complete wound healing was observed in 40% of goats under AQ compared to 0% for both CNA and DPNB. An increased hair growth was also observed in AQ compared to CNA and DPNB. The results suggest that aquapuncture using chili pepper decoction can be used as an alternative to distal paravertebral nerve block in producing surgical analgesia for laparotomy with comparable wound healing in goats.

Keywords: acupuncture, analgesia, aquapuncture, cortisol, goat, regional analgesia, wound healing.

Thesis (Master of Science - Veterinary Medicine)

Includes appendices and bibliographical references.