title: Does pentobarbital anesthesia depress left ventricular contractility in dogs?
abstract: Although pentobarbital sodium (NP) anesthesia has been shown to depress left ventricular (LV) contractility in dogs, measurements of LV contractility in previous studies have been made soon after a bolus of NP was given when serum concentrations would be extremely high. In this study, we compared indexes of LV contractility during awake and anesthetized conditions. During anesthesia, measurements were obtained 1 h after an intravenous bolus of NP was given when serum concentrations were approximately 25 mg/l and above that reported to abolish pain. In 13 dogs, subendocardial ultrasonic crystal transducers and a high-fidelity pressure transducer were implanted into the LV. Measurements were obtained with and without prior treatment with propranolol to produce beta-adrenergic blockade. LV contractility was assessed by ejection fraction and the end-systolic pressure-volume relationship. The effect of NP on ventricular myocardium was also examined in an in vitro canine right trabecular preparation to compare in vivo and in vitro effects. In the in vivo study, the results showed no decrease in LV contractility during anesthesia regardless of whether propranolol was administered. The in vitro preparation showed only a minimal decrease in isometric tension at the concentrations used in the in vivo study. We conclude that NP anesthesia does not depress LV contractility when concentrations are maintained at approximately 25 mg/l.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Unruh
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bose
authors.forename: S N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Mink
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000768:Anesthesia, General; D000818:Animals; D004285:Dogs; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000187:drug effects; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000187:drug effects; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000187:drug effects*; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013599:Systole / Q000187:drug effects; D016276:Ventricular Function; D014851:Wakefulness
chemical_list: D010424:Pentobarbital