Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Seizure activity occurring in two dogs after S-ketamine-induction.
- Journal:
- Schweizer Archiv fur Tierheilkunde
- Year:
- 2013
- Authors:
- Adami, C et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Science
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
In this study, two healthy dogs were put under anesthesia for surgery using a combination of medications, including S-ketamine. Right after the anesthesia was started, both dogs had seizures. The first dog showed signs like muscle stiffness, shaking, drooling, urinating, defecating, and a rise in body temperature, while the second dog had twitching in its face and jaw, along with similar symptoms. Fortunately, both dogs recovered from the anesthesia without any further seizures. The researchers believe that S-ketamine may have triggered the seizures, even though other possible causes were ruled out.
Abstract
Two healthy dogs were anaesthetized to undergo elective orthopaedic procedures. After premedication with methadone and acepromazine, general anaesthesia was induced with midazolam and S-ketamine. Immediately after anaesthetic induction, seizures occurred in both dogs. In the first dog the syndrome was characterized by tonic and clonic motor activity, muscular hypertone, hypersalivation, urination, defecation and hyperthermia. In the second dog muscular twitches of the temporal and masseter regions were observed, followed by increased skeletal muscles tone, hypersalivation, spontaneous urination and increase in body temperature. Recoveries from anaesthesia were uneventful and no seizures were observed. Considering the temporal association between anaesthetic induction and occurrence of seizures, and the fact that other causative factors could not be identified, it is hypothesized that S-ketamine played a role in determining the convulsive phenomena observed in these patients. S-ketamine might carry the potential for inducing seizures in otherwise healthy dogs, despite the concomitant use of GABA-ergic drugs.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24091232/