The Monitoring of Vital Functions in Different Associations of General Injectable Anesthetics in Dogs

Abstract

The discovery of new anesthetics, more effective and less toxic, gave veterinarians the possibility to successfully intervene in resolving the most different situations encountered in their activity. This study consisted in monitoring respiratory frequency, cardiac frequency and body temperature in patients anesthetized and then subdued to different surgical interventions. The researches were carried on 20 dogs of different breeds, ages and sexes, diagnosed with different types of diseases, which needed surgical treatment under the effect of anesthesia. There were selected patients in which pain intensity associated with surgical intervention was relatively equal. Anesthesia protocols consisted mainly in the association of two substances: xylazine + ketamine – in 5 cases; medetomidine + ketamine – in 5 cases; acepromazine + ketamine – in 5 cases; propofol – in 5 cases. In case of anesthesia induced by xylazine-ketamine combination, it was observed a slight tendency to bradycardia, respiratory frequency oscillations and the decrease of body temperature (tendency to hypothermia). Medetomidine-ketamine association determined cardiac frequency oscillations (without a particular tendency), an initial increase of respiratory frequency followed by come-back to normal and a slight decrease of body temperature. Using acepromazine-ketamine combination, the studied parameters varied under acceptable limits during anesthesia. Propofol ensured good conditions for surgical interventions, with the observations that the anesthetic effect is short and it requires supplementary safety measures in order to avoid the appearance of respiratory disorders. The selection of anesthetic substances must be done considering patient-related factors, the purpose of anesthesia and the available equipments.