Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Tear production drops in dogs for 24 hours after anesthesia
By Herring, I P et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·2000·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Evaluation of aqueous tear production in dogs following general anesthesia.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 46 dogs had their tear production measured before and after undergoing general anesthesia. The tests showed that all dogs had normal tear production before anesthesia, but many experienced a significant drop in tear production for up to 24 hours afterward. The longer the anesthesia lasted, the longer it took for tear production to return to normal. Additionally, if the dogs received certain medications during anesthesia, their tear production decreased even more. Most dogs eventually returned to normal tear production, but it may take some time depending on the length of the procedure.
People also search for: dog tear production after anesthesia · why is my dog’s eye dry after surgery · effects of anesthesia on dog eyes
Abstract
Pre- and postanesthetic Schirmer tear test (STT) values were measured in 46 dogs. All subjects had normal preanesthetic STT values (18.3 +/- 2.8 mm per min in the left eye [OS] and 18.3 +/- 3.0 mm per min in the right eye [OD]). Significant differences were found between pre- and postanesthetic STT values. Significant decreases in tear production were evident for up to 24 hours following the anesthetic event. Subject age did not significantly influence the results. Duration of anesthesia significantly affected the rate of return to preanesthetic STT values, with anesthetic events greater than two hours in duration having a prolonged effect as compared to anesthetic events less than two hours in duration. Anticholinergic administration prior to or during anesthesia further lowered postanesthetic STT values.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10997519/