Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Heartworm-positive dogs safely sterilized with special anesthesia
By Peterson, K M et al.·Published in Veterinary parasitology·2014·Department of Agricultural Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Heartworm-positive dogs recover without complications from surgical sterilization using cardiovascular sparing anesthesia protocol.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Fifteen heartworm-positive shelter dogs underwent sterilization surgery using a special anesthesia protocol designed to minimize heart and lung risks. These dogs were carefully evaluated before surgery, and the anesthesia included medications to help keep them stable. Remarkably, none of the dogs experienced any complications during or after the procedure. This suggests that with proper monitoring and a tailored anesthetic approach, it's safe to sterilize heartworm-positive dogs before they receive treatment for their heartworm infection.
People also search for: heartworm-positive dog surgery risks · dog sterilization anesthesia safety · heartworm treatment for dogs
Abstract
Expedited home placement of heartworm-positive shelter dogs is desirable and may outweigh the perceived increase in anesthetic risk for pre-adoption sterilization; however, this issue has not been addressed in the literature. Our goal was to determine whether heartworm-positive dogs suffered clinically evident perioperative complications after sterilization under general anesthesia. Anticipated complications could result from anesthesia-induced changes in pulmonary vascular resistance and cardiac output leading to signs of thromboembolic disease and even death from dislodged parasites. The medical records of 15 hemodynamically stable, intact, heartworm-positive, mixed-breed shelter dogs with no or mild clinical signs were examined. Pre-operative evaluation of patients included a complete blood count, clinical chemistry profile, heartworm antigen and microfilariae screen, electrocardiogram, and thoracic radiographs. The anesthetic protocol for heartworm-positive dogs included acepromazine (0.01-0.05 mg/kg), butorphanol (0.1mg/kg IM) and meloxicam (0.2mg/kg IM), or carprofen (2mg/kg SQ) in the preanesthetic period; tiletamine/zolazepam (3-6 mg/kg IV) or ketamine/diazepam (3-6mg/kg/0.25-5mg/kg IV) to effect for induction; maintenance on isoflurane or sevoflurane and oxygen. A lidocaine testicular block was performed on 11 males. All dogs were monitored postoperatively for a minimum of 24h and then daily until discharge. There were no clinically evident perioperative complications in heartworm-positive dogs. Purposeful pre-operative evaluation of heartworm-positive dogs while utilizing cardiovascular-sparing anesthetic protocols may allow clinicians to proceed with sterilization of hemodynamically stable heartworm-positive shelter dogs prior to heartworm treatment.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25218888/