Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How sedation affects heart ultrasound in healthy cats
By Ward, Jessica L et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2012·Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Effects of sedation on echocardiographic variables of left atrial and left ventricular function in healthy cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Seven healthy cats were sedated with a combination of acepromazine and butorphanol, or acepromazine, butorphanol, and ketamine, to help them stay still during heart ultrasound tests (echocardiography). After sedation, the cats' heart rates increased, and blood pressure dropped slightly, but most heart measurements remained stable. The sedation did cause some minor changes in heart size and wall thickness, but these were not significant enough to affect the results. Overall, the study suggests that these sedation methods are safe and effective for performing echocardiograms in healthy cats.
People also search for: cat echocardiogram sedation effects · healthy cat heart ultrasound · acepromazine butorphanol sedation cats
Abstract
Although sedation is frequently used to facilitate patient compliance in feline echocardiography, the effects of sedative drugs on echocardiographic variables have been poorly documented. This study investigated the effects of two sedation protocols on echocardiographic indices in healthy cats, with special emphasis on the assessment of left atrial size and function, as well as left ventricular diastolic performance. Seven cats underwent echocardiography (transthoracic two-dimensional, spectral Doppler, color flow Doppler and tissue Doppler imaging) before and after sedation with both acepromazine (0.1 mg/kg IM) and butorphanol (0.25 mg/kg IM), or acepromazine (0.1 mg/kg IM), butorphanol (0.25 mg/kg IM) and ketamine (1.5 mg/kg IV). Heart rate increased significantly following acepromazine/butorphanol/ketamine (mean±SD of increase, 40±26 beats/min) and non-invasive systolic blood pressure decreased significantly following acepromazine/butorphanol (mean±SD of decrease, 12±19 mmHg). The majority of echocardiographic variables were not significantly different after sedation compared with baseline values. Both sedation protocols resulted in mildly decreased left ventricular end-diastolic dimension and mildly increased left ventricular end-diastolic wall thickness. This study therefore failed to demonstrate clinically meaningful effects of these sedation protocols on echocardiographic measurements, suggesting that sedation with acepromazine, butorphanol and/or ketamine can be used to facilitate echocardiography in healthy cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22577049/