Hypothermia, bradycardia and hypotension in a Dachshund undergoing a hemilaminectomy

Abstract

A 3-year-10-month-old female neutered Dachshund was presented for investigation of acute onset paraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an intervertebral disc extrusion, therefore a dorsal hemilaminectomy was performed. While under general anaesthesia, the patient became hypothermic (33.1 °C) and severely bradycardic, with a concurrent severe decrease in blood pressure. Initial management of the bradycardia included glycopyrrolate at a dose rate of 10 μg/kg, administered twice, however the patient was unresponsive to this. Active warming was initiated and the patient's body temperature slowly increased. A single dose of atropine was administered, following which the patient's bradycardia resolved. It is likely that once the patient's temperature increased, all the vasoactive substances were able to take effect. This suggests that the bradycardia was probably, in part, due to the hypothermia, although other factors may have contributed.