Effects of ketoprofen alone or in combination with local anesthesia during the castration of bull calves on plasma cortisol, immunological, and inflammatory responses.

To determine the effects of the anti-inflammatory ketoprofen, alone or with local anesthesia (LA) during castration on cortisol, immune, and acute phase responses, 40 Friesian calves (215 +/- 3.5 kg) were assigned as follows: 1) control, 2) surgical castration (SURG), 3) SURG following ketoprofen (3 mg/kg BW i.v.; SURG + K), 4) SURG following LA (9 mL of 2% lidocaine hydrochloride to each testis; SURG + LA), or 5) SURG following LA and K (SURG + LA + K). Total cortisol response was greater (P < 0.05) in SURG, SURG + LA, and SURG + K + LA calves than in control calves and was not different between control and SURG + K calves. The interval to peak cortisol was longer (P < 0.05) for SURG + K + LA calves than for either SURG or SURG + K calves. On d 3, KLH-induced interferon-gamma production was lower (P < 0.05) in SURG calves than in control calves, whereas concanavalin A-induced interferon-gamma production was lower (P < 0.05) in all castration groups than in control. On d 1 after surgery, fibrinogen was higher (P < 0.05) in SURG and SURG + LA calves than in control calves, whereas SURG + LA + K calves had lower (P < 0.05) fibrinogen than did SURG calves. Haptoglobin was higher (P < 0.05) in SURG calves on d 1, 3, and 7 than in control calves. On d 1 after surgery, SURG + K and SURG + LA + K calves had lower (P < 0.05) haptoglobin concentrations than SURG calves, whereas SURG + K calves had lower (P < 0.05) levels than SURG calves on d 3. In conclusion, surgical castration induced a significant elevation in cortisol secretion; the rise in cortisol was reduced to control levels by the administration of ketoprofen but not local anaesthetic. Thus, systemic analgesia using ketoprofen is more effective than local anesthesia during castration to alleviate the associated stress response.