Electrocardiographic and hemato-biochemical effects of two balanced anesthetic protocols in dogs

Abstract

Aim: The purpose of this study was to compare the electrocardiographic (ECG), hematological and clinico-biochemical effects of two balanced anesthetic protocols in dogs. Materials and Methods: A total of 20 clinical cases of dogs, randomly divided into two groups of 10 animals each were made part of study. All dogs were premedicated with injection atropine sulfate @ 0.04 mg/kg body weight (b. wt.) subcutaneously followed 15 min later with injection butorphanol tartarate @ 0.2 mg/kg b. wt. intravenous (IV). Subsequently after 10 min premedicated with injection diazepam @ 0.5 mg/kg b. wt. IV (Group DP) or injection acepromazine maleate @ 0.015 mg/kg b. wt. IV (Group AP) followed by injection propofol "till effect" IV for induction of surgical anesthesia. The animals were immediately transferred to halothane in oxygen. Observations recorded in dogs included ECG recordings, hematological and clinico-biochemical observations at various time intervals. Results: No arrhythmia was observed in any animal pre-operatively and intra-operatively in any of the groups. Significant fall in packed cell volume (PCV) and total erythrocyte count occurred in DP group in early phase, whereas only PCV decreased significantly in AP group. Biochemical parameters were non-significant in both the groups. Conclusion: Both diazepam-butorphanol-propofol-halothane and acepromazine-butorphanol-propofol-halothane are safe with respect to their ECG, hematological and biochemical effects in clinical cases.