Evaluation of the Local Analgesic Effects of a Commercial Aqueous Extract of Sarracenia purpurea and Ammonium Sulfate in the Equine Abaxial Sesamoid Block Model

Sarracenia purpurea is a carnivorous plant whose aqueous extracts have been proposed to exert analgesic effects by neurolytical action on peripheral nerves. The aim of this study was to determine the local analgesic effects of a commercially available aqueous extract solution of S. purpurea (P-Bloc, St. Joseph, Missouri) and a 1% ammonium sulfate solution, using the horse abaxial sesamoid block model. Twenty horses were randomly assigned to two groups. The first group (n = 10) was used to evaluate the effect of P-Bloc. The horses received a bilateral (medial and lateral) abaxial sesamoid block with 5 mL of P-Bloc in one random forelimb, while in the contralateral forelimb, they received either 5 mL of 2% lidocaine as a positive control (n = 5) or 5 mL of 0.9% NaCl as a negative control (n = 5). The second group (n = 10) was treated as the first but received 5 mL of 1% ammonium sulfate in NaCl (0.9% NaCl) solution instead of P-Bloc. The period of hoof withdrawal reflex latency (HWRL, in seconds) was measured using a custom-made heat projector lamp as a source of a noxious skin heating stimulus applied to the pastern. Lidocaine (2%) prolonged (P ≤ .05) the HWRL period, returning to the negative control basal values after 240 minutes. Neither the treatment with P-Bloc nor 1% ammonium sulfate modified the HWRL period. The lack of effect of these compounds in this model reinforces the results reported elsewhere and suggests a nonlocal anesthetic mechanism of action for the aqueous extract of S. purpurea in the horse.