Incidence of post-anaesthetic arrhythmias in dogs.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the use of Holter monitoring for evaluating the incidence of post-anaesthetic cardiac arrhythmias and associated anaesthetic risk for two different anaesthetic protocols.


METHODS
Patients undergoing orthopaedic surgery were randomly divided into two groups with different anaesthetic regimens (group A, isoflurane n = 30; group B, propofol n = 30). Two 24-hour Holter recordings were performed for each patient: the first directly following anaesthesia and the second, as a comparison, on the fifth postoperative day.


RESULTS
Although all dogs were healthy on pre-anaesthetic cardiac evaluation, 56 dogs showed arrhythmias in the two 24-hour (Holter) electrocardiograms performed. However, the number of arrhythmias recorded was low in most cases (less than 10 supraventricular extrasystoles and less than 100 ventricular extrasystoles). One patient in group A showed 94 supraventricular extrasystoles during the second monitoring period. Three patients in each group developed more than 100 ventricular extrasystoles during both Holter recordings. There were no statistically significant differences between the two anaesthetic regimens or between the two recordings in both groups.


CONCLUSIONS
The two anaesthetic protocols investigated in this study did not induce an increased incidence of severe arrhythmias in healthy dogs in the post-anaesthetic phase.
Buhl
K
K
Small Animal Clinic, School of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Bünteweg 2, 30559, Hannover, Germany.
Kersten
U
U
Kramer
S
S
Mischke
R
R
Fedrowitz
M
M
Nolte
I
I
D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D004285:Dogs; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D005260:Female; D015994:Incidence; D007530:Isoflurane / Q000009:adverse effects*; D008297:Male; D015742:Propofol / Q000009:adverse effects*; D012307:Risk Factors
D018685:Anesthetics, Inhalation; D018686:Anesthetics, Intravenous; D007530:Isoflurane; D015742:Propofol