Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
IV rocuronium helps make cat intubation easier during anesthesia
By Sakai, Daniel M et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2018·1 Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intravenous rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg improves the conditions for tracheal intubation in cats: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Thirty female cats undergoing surgery were given either a muscle relaxant called rocuronium or a placebo to see how it affected the ease of putting a breathing tube in. The cats that received rocuronium had the tube placed much faster and with fewer attempts compared to those that got the placebo. While there was a short period of not breathing after the medication was given, there were no issues with oxygen levels during the procedure. Overall, rocuronium made the process of intubation smoother and quicker for the cats.
People also search for: cat surgery breathing tube · rocuronium for cats · cat anesthesia safety
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We evaluated the use of rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg intravenously (IV) to facilitate tracheal intubation in cats anesthetized for elective ovariohysterectomy. METHODS: Thirty female cats were randomly allocated to receive rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg IV or an equal volume of normal saline, following induction of anesthesia with ketamine and midazolam. Thirty seconds after induction, a single investigator, unaware of treatment allocation, attempted tracheal intubation. The number of attempts and the time to complete intubation were measured. Intubating conditions were assessed as acceptable or unacceptable based on a composite score consisting of five different components. Duration of apnea after induction was measured and cases of hemoglobin desaturation (SpO<90%) were identified. RESULTS: Intubation was completed faster (rocuronium 12 s [range 8-75 s]; saline 60 s [range 9-120 s]) and with fewer attempts (rocuronium 1 [range 1-2]; saline 2 [range 1-3], both P = 0.006) in cats receiving rocuronium. Unacceptable intubating conditions on the first attempt occurred in 3/15 cats with rocuronium and in 10/15 with saline ( P = 0.01). Apnea lasted 4 ± 1.6 mins with rocuronium and 2.3 ± 0.5 mins with saline ( P = 0.0007). No cases of desaturation were observed. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg IV improves intubating conditions compared with saline, and reduces the time and number of attempts to intubate with only a short period of apnea in cats.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29360017/