Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog has shaking and twitching after propofol anesthesia recovery
By Smedile, L E et al.·Published in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association·1996·Department of Veterinary Internal Medicine, Canada·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Excitatory movements in a dog following propofol anesthesia.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old neutered male Labrador retriever had a procedure to remove a foreign object from his airway and was put under anesthesia with propofol. After waking up, he showed unusual movements like twitching, rigidity, and tremors that lasted for 20 hours. The vet gave him a medication called pentobarbital, which helped stop the movements temporarily. Thankfully, the dog fully recovered, but he continued to have occasional seizures due to his existing epilepsy.
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Abstract
A two-year-old, neutered male Labrador retriever was anesthetized with intravenous propofol for bronchoscopy to remove a bronchial foreign body. The dog previously had been diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. During anesthetic recovery, the dog exhibited excitatory movements characterized by forelimb extensor rigidity, opisthotonos, generalized tremors, paddling, horizontal nystagmus, and facial twitching. Intravenous administration of pentobarbital temporarily stopped the motor activity. The excitatory movements persisted for 20 hours. The dog went on to recover completely, although he remained an epileptic, having one brief, generalized grand mal seizure every three-to-four months.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8784729/