Effects of xylazine-ketamine anesthesia on plasma levels of cortisol and vital signs during laparotomy in dogs

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate effects of xylazine-ketamine anesthesia on plasma levels of cortisol and vital signs during and after laparotomy in dogs. Eight clinically healthy, adult male dogs, weighing 20 kg were used. All dogs were initially sedated by acepromazine. Thirty minutes later, ketamine plus xylazine was used to induce anesthesia. Surgical incision of laparotomy was done. After a 5 min manipulation of the abdominal organs, the incision was sutured. Vital signs including heart rate, respiratory rate and rectal temperature (RT) were recorded at the times of -30: premedication, 0: induction and Surgical incision, 30: End of surgery, 60, 90 and 120 min. Blood was sampled at the above mentioned times and analyzed using a commercial ELISA kit for cortisol. A significant decreasing trend in RT was observed during the studied times. No significant changes were observed in heart rate and respiratory rate (p>0.05), except at the time of 60 respiratory rate significantly decreased when compared to the time of 90 (p=0.026) and 120 (p=0.041). A non-significant but increasing trend in plasma levels of cortisol was observed.

Effect of xylazine sedation on testicular blood flow, testicular echotexture, and circulating hormones in Shiba goats

“…In addition, a signi cant decline in the levels of cortisol was observed in the xylazine sedated group. Similar ndings were reported in dogs and goats during sedation (Vaisanen et al 2002;Naddaf et al 2014). Decreased cortisol levels may be attributed to the depression effect of sedation on the CNS and the adrenocortical stimulation caused by emotional stress (Sanhouri et al 1992;Oyama 1973;Tranquilli et al 2007).…”

“…Therefore, sedation of nervous animals may be important to facilitate the scanning in some cases, especially under eld conditions (Araujo and Ginther 2009). Xylazine is one of the alpha-2 adrenergic agonists that can produce dose-dependent sedation, analgesia, and muscle relaxation (Naddaf et al 2014;Celestine Okwudili et al 2014). Xylazine is exclusively used as a sedative, analgesic, and muscle relaxant in various veterinary medicine practices.…”

Use of ketamine and xylazine anesthesia in dogs: A retrospective cohort study of 3,413 cases

“…A search of the PubMed database, using the term 'ketamine and xylazine anesthesia in the dog', resulted in 53 wide-ranging studies . Many of the studies were based on several different protocols, such as the separate administration of ketamine and xylazine intramuscularly or intravenously, the use of ketamine and xylazine with the addition of phenothiazine, benzodiazepines, anticholinergics, muscle relaxants, or isopropyl phenol (Hellebrekers et al 1990, Naddaf et al 2014, Abdel-Hady et al 2017. Also, combinations of ketamine and xylazine administration have been described, but at doses and modes of combination and administration different from the combination used in our study (Mezerová et al 1992).…”

“…Increasingly, ketamine is used in emergency medicine because of the effect of reducing intracranial pressure while not reducing blood pressure or cerebral perfusion pressure (Morris 2009). Many studies report the use of ketamine and xylazine in general anesthesia in dogs at various doses and methods of administration and surgical indications (Hellebrekers et al 1990, Mezerová et al 1992, Naddaf et al 2014, Abdel-Hady et al 2017, Maksimović et al 2019. However, investigating available literature non specificially describes the safety of their application and the mortality rate.…”