Alternative anaesthetic management in a reintervention for correction of a left‐to‐right shunting patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in a dog

Abstract

A three‐year‐old, male neutered, 2.7 kg Chihuahua was referred for correction of a type IIA, left‐to‐right shunting PDA. The correction of the PDA required two separate interventions. During the first intervention, a minimally invasive transvascular correction of the PDA that was converted to a thoracotomy was suspended after the evidence of iatrogenic haemopericardium. The second intervention, scheduled after the resolution of the haemopericardium, consisted of surgical ligation of the PDA via thoracotomy. Long periods of hypotension (mean arterial pressure below 60 mm Hg) were observed during the first intervention, during which anaesthesia was maintained with a combination of sevoflurane and infusions of fentanyl and lidocaine. The use of total intravenous anaesthesia with alfaxalone in conjunction with locoregional techniques in the second intervention provided smooth anaesthesia with improved cardiovascular stability.

Single thoracic epidural injection for intra‐ and post‐lateral thoracotomy analgesia in a dog

“…[5][6][7] Local anaesthetic techniques are recommended to block primary nociceptive pathways. 6,8 Techniques, including thoracic epidural (TE) via catheter, [9][10][11] intercostal nerve block, 12,13 intrapleural local anaesthetic, 14,15 serratus plane block 16 and thoracic paravertebral block, 17,18 have been described for the management of post-thoracotomy pain in veterinary species. This case report describes the successful use of epidural local anaesthetic and morphine administered at thoracic vertebrae (T) 12-T13 intervertebral space in a dog undergoing thoracotomy and lung lobectomy.…”