Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Changing anesthesia can reduce heart rhythm problems in cats and dogs
By Hubbell, J A et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1984·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Change of inhalation anesthetic agents for management of ventricular premature depolarizations in anesthetized cats and dogs.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 27 cats and 14 dogs experienced irregular heartbeats called ventricular premature depolarizations (VPD) while under inhalation anesthesia with halothane. When the anesthetic was switched to enflurane for 22 animals, most returned to a normal heart rhythm, while a few showed reduced irregularities. Similarly, 15 animals switched to isoflurane also saw improvements, with many reverting to a normal rhythm. This suggests that changing the anesthetic from halothane to either enflurane or isoflurane can help pets with VPD during surgery.
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Abstract
Ventricular premature depolarizations (VPD) were found in 27 cats and 14 dogs during inhalation anesthesia. For animals receiving halothane, the anesthetic agent was changed to enflurane (n = 22) or isoflurane (n = 15). After the change to enflurane, the VPD reverted to normal sinus rhythm (n = 19) or decreased in frequency (n = 3). After the change to isoflurane, the VPD reverted to normal sinus rhythm (n = 14) or decreased in frequency (n = 1). For 4 cats receiving enflurane, the inhalant agent was changed to halothane, which caused an increased frequency of VPD (n = 3) or reversion to normal sinus rhythm (n = 1). It was concluded that cats and dogs with VPD during inhalation anesthesia with halothane would benefit from a change to enflurane or isoflurane.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6490487/