Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
cis-Atracurium use in dogs with porto-systemic shunts during surgery
By Adams, Wendy A et al.·Published in Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia·2006·University Department of Anaesthesia, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: cis-Atracurium in dogs with and without porto-systemic shunts.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of dogs with porto-systemic shunts (a condition where blood bypasses the liver) underwent surgery and were given a drug called cis-atracurium to help with anesthesia. Most of the dogs recovered well after surgery, and the drug worked similarly in dogs with the shunt as it did in healthy dogs. The time it took for the drug to start working and how long it lasted were comparable in both groups. This suggests that cis-atracurium could be a safe option for anesthesia in dogs with liver issues.
People also search for: dog porto-systemic shunt surgery · cis-atracurium for dogs · anesthesia for dogs with liver problems
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocking drug cis-atracurium in dogs with porto-systemic shunts, and to compare it in clinically normal animals. ANIMALS: Thirteen dogs of mixed breed and sex, aged between 3 and 31 months old, weighing 2.2-25.5 kg, with ASA physical status II-IV, and undergoing surgical attenuation of porto-systemic shunt. A control group of 11 bitches of mixed breed, between 8 and 60 months old, and weighing 4.5-41.0 kg, all ASA physical status I, undergoing routine ovarohysterectomy were also studied. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pre-anaesthetic medication was an opioid analgesic, given either alone or in combination with acepromazine. Following induction of general anaesthesia with intravenous (IV) propofol and oro-tracheal intubation, anaesthesia was maintained using isoflurane in either oxygen or oxygen and nitrous oxide. Ventilation was controlled. The train of four (TOF) technique was used to monitor neuromuscular blockade. An initial dose of 0.1 mg kg(-1)cis-atracurium was given IV and additional doses of 0.03 mg kg(-1)cis-atracurium were administered when at least one twitch of the TOF was present. RESULTS: Except for one dog that was killed during surgery because its anomaly was inoperable, all animals recovered satisfactorily from anaesthesia and surgery. In dogs with porto-systemic shunt, onset of neuromuscular blockade was 3.1 +/- 1.1 minutes (mean +/- SD) and in control dogs was 3.4 +/- 0.7 minutes (not significantly different). Neuromuscular blockade lasted 34 +/- 13 minutes in dogs with porto-systemic shunt and 29 +/- 17 minutes in control dogs (not significantly different). CONCLUSIONS: The presence of porto-systemic shunt did not affect the rate of onset or duration of action of cis-atracurium. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: cis-Atracurium may have a use in veterinary anaesthesia for producing neuromuscular blockade in dogs with hepatic insufficiency, including those with porto-systemic shunt.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16412128/