Investigation of associations between preoperative acepromazine or dexmedetomidine administration and development of arterial hypotension or bradycardia in dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate potential associations between preanesthetic administration of acepromazine or dexmedetomidine and development of arterial hypotension or bradycardia in isoflurane-anesthetized dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy. ANIMALS 341 dogs. PROCEDURES Medical records were searched to identify dogs that underwent ovariohysterectomy between January 2009 and December 2010 and received hydromorphone with acepromazine or dexmedetomidine as preanesthetic agents. Demographic data, sedative and anesthetic drugs, duration of anesthesia, average vaporizer setting, positive pressure ventilation, occurrence of hypotension (mean arterial pressure < 60 mm Hg) or bradycardia (> 50% reduction in heart rate, compared with the preanesthetic value), time to first occurrence and duration of hypotension, and treatment with dopamine or anticholinergic agents were recorded. Data were compared between dogs that received acepromazine and dexmedetomidine. Logistic regression was used to investigate associations between the treatments of interest (and other putative risk factors) and development of hypotension or bradycardia. RESULTS For dogs that received acepromazine, the odds of developing hypotension were 2.61 times those for dogs that received dexmedetomidine. Hypotension occurred earlier and lasted longer in dogs that received acepromazine, and this group was treated with dopamine more frequently than the group that received dexmedetomidine. Lower body weight was associated with increased odds of hypotension. Odds of developing bradycardia were greater for dogs sedated with dexmedetomidine (vs acepromazine) and for dogs that underwent anesthetic induction with propofol or a ketamine-benzodiazepine combination (vs thiopental). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Anesthetic complications differed between isoflurane-anesthetized dogs undergoing ovariohysterectomy after premedication with acepromazine or dexmedetomidine in this study; future prospective investigations are warranted to investigate these effects in other, less homogenous populations of dogs.

Partial neuromuscular block impairs arytenoid abduction during hypercarbic challenge in anesthetized dogs.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of two levels of partial neuromuscular block (NMB) on arytenoid abduction, tidal volume (VT) and peak inspiratory flow (PIF) in response to a hypercarbic challenge in anesthetized dogs. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective laboratory study. ANIMALS: Eleven healthy male Beagle dogs aged 3-5 years. METHODS: Dogs were anesthetized with propofol and dexmedetomidine infusions. The rima glottidis was observed via an endoscope placed through a laryngeal mask airway. Atracurium infusion was titrated to obtain two levels of partial NMB. The normalized glottal gap area (NGGA; glottal gap area normalized to height squared of rima glottidis) at peak inspiration during a hypercarbic challenge (10% CO2 inspired for 1 minute) was measured at baseline, during mild [train-of-four (TOF) ratio 0.4-0.6] and shallow (TOF ratio 0.7-0.9) NMB, and 30 minutes after spontaneous recovery from NMB. The VT and PIF were measured at the same time points and compared using anova for repeated measures and Tukey's post hoc tests. RESULTS: The NGGA and VT were significantly lower than baseline during both levels of partial NMB with no difference between mild and shallow NMB (p < 0.05). They returned to baseline values after spontaneous recovery from NMB. PIF was not altered significantly during partial NMB. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The NGGA and VT at peak inspiration in response to a hypercarbic challenge were reduced during partial NMB block, with decreased abduction of the arytenoid cartilages. This dysfunction was present even at shallow levels of NMB.