24-hour Holter-Monitoring in the Perianaesthetic Period in Dogs Premedicated with Dexmedetomidine

• Published in: The veterinary journal (1997) Vol. 164; no. 3; pp. 235 - 239
• Main Authors: Kuusela, E., Raekallio, M., Hietanen, H., Huttula, J., Vainio, O.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01-11-2002
• Subjects: Anesthesia, General - veterinary; Anesthetics, Inhalation - adverse effects; Anesthetics, Intravenous - adverse effects; Animals; Arrhythmias, Cardiac - chemically induced; dexmedetomidine; Dexmedetomidine - administration & dosage; Dexmedetomidine - adverse effects; Dogs; Drug Interactions; Drug Monitoring; Female; Heart Rate - drug effects; Holter; Hypnotics and Sedatives - administration & dosage; Hypnotics and Sedatives - adverse effects; isoflurane; Isoflurane - administration & dosage; Isoflurane - adverse effects; Male; Preanesthetic Medication - adverse effects; Preanesthetic Medication - veterinary; propofol; Propofol - administration & dosage; Propofol - adverse effects; sleep disturbance; Time Factors; dexmedetomidine; sleep disturbance; isoflurane; propofol; Holter
• ISSN: 1090-0233; 1532-2971
• DOI: 10.1053/tvjl.2002.0735

Baseline and perianaesthetic 24-hour Holter recordings were carried out in six healthy beagles. After dexmedetomidine premedication anaesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with propofol infusion or isoflurane for one hour. Dexmedetomidine alone was used as control. The recordings were analysed for ventricular premature complexes (VPC), atrioventricular (AV) blocks and mean heart rate/hour (HR). In most recordings, no ventricular arrhythmias were detected, the maximum frequency being two VPCs/24h. VPCs were not seen during anaesthesia or during the recovery period. The development of second-degree AV-blocks varied from dog to dog. Most of the heart blocks were seen during the premedication period when bradycardia was most prominent. During the subsequent night, HR was similar between treatments and did not differ from that seen on the baseline recordings. In beagles treated with dexmedetomidine alone or combined with propofol or propofol/isoflurane, ventricular arrhythmias were not detected more frequently than those reported in healthy non-anaesthetised dogs.