Although questions may still remain regarding the use of this unique sedative-hypnotic drug with anesthetic properties in high-risk patients, our studies have provided cardiopulmonary and neurological evidence of the efficacy and safety of propofol when used as an anesthetic under normal and selected impaired conditions in the dog. 1. Propofol can be safely and effectively used for the induction and maintenance of anesthesia in normal healthy dogs. Propofol is also a reliable and safe anesthetic agent when used during induced cardiovascular and pulmonary-impaired conditions without surgery. The propofol requirements to induce the safe and prompt induction of anesthesia prior to inhalant anesthesia with and without surgery have been determined. 2. The favorable recovery profile associated with propofol offers advantages over traditional anesthetics in clinical situations in which rapid recovery is important. Also, propofol compatibility with a large variety of preanesthetics may increase its use as a safe and reliable i.v. anesthetic for the induction and maintenance of general anesthesia and sedation in small animal veterinary practice. Although propofol has proven to be a valuable adjuvant during short ambulatory procedures, its use for the maintenance of general anesthesia has been questioned for surgery lasting more than 1 hour because of increased cost and marginal differences in recovery times compared with those of standard inhalant or balanced anesthetic techniques. When propofol is used for the maintenance of anesthesia in combination with a sedative/analgesic, the quality of anesthesia is improved as well as the ease with which the practitioner can titrate propofol; therefore, practitioners are able to use i.v. anesthetic techniques more effectively in their clinical practices. 3. Propofol can induce significant depression of respiratory function, characterized by a reduction in the rate of respiration. Potent alpha 2 sedative/analgesics (e.g., xylazine, medetomidine) or opioids (e.g., oxymorphone, butorphanol) increase the probability of respiratory depression during anesthesia. Appropriate consideration of dose reduction and speed of administration of propofol reduces the degree of depression. Cardiovascular changes induced by propofol administration consist of a slight decrease in arterial blood pressures (systolic, mean, diastolic) without a compensatory increase in heart rate. Selective premedicants markedly modify this characteristic response. 4. When coupled with subjective responses to painful stimuli, EEG responses during propofol anesthesia provide clear evidence that satisfactory anesthesia has been achieved in experimental dogs. When propofol is used as the only anesthetic agent, a higher dose is required to induce an equipotent level of CNS depression compared with the situation when dogs are premedicated. 5. The propofol induction dose requirement should be appropriately decreased by 20% to 80% when propofol is administered in combination with sedative or analgesic agents as part of a balan...

BackgroundMigrating plant material is often suspected clinically to be the underlying cause of iliopsoas myositis in the dog, but cannot always be found pre- or intraoperatively. In most cases, recurrence of clinical signs is related to failure to remove the plant material. Preoperative ultrasonography can be useful to visualize migrating plant material and to determine anatomical landmarks that can assist in planning a surgical approach. The purpose of the present study was to report the role of intraoperative (intra-abdominal) ultrasonography for visualizing and removing the plant material from iliopsoas abscesses using a ventral midline laparotomy approach.ResultsA retrospective case series of 22 dogs with iliopsoas muscle abnormalities and suspected plant material was reported. Preoperative visualization and subsequent retrieval of the plant material was performed during a single hospitalization. In all 22 dogs, the plant material (including complete grass awns, grass awn fragments and a bramble twig) was successfully removed via ventral midline laparotomy in which intraoperative ultrasonography was used to direct the grasping forceps tips to the foreign body and guide its removal. In 11 of these 22 dogs, the plant material was not completely removed during prior surgery performed by the referring veterinarians without pre- or intraoperative ultrasonography. Clinical signs resolved in all dogs and all dogs resumed normal activity after successful surgical removal of the plant material.ConclusionIntraoperative ultrasonography is a safe and readily available tool that improves success of surgical removal of plant material within the iliopsoas abscesses via ventral midline laparotomy. Moreover, ultrasonographic findings of unusual plant material can be useful in planning and guiding surgical removal, by providing information about the size and shape of the foreign body.

To minimize technical problems relating to excessive size (600-800 mu in diameter) of standard alginate microcapsules (CSM) for pancreatic islet graft immunoisolation, we have developed two novel minimal volume, chemically identical, capsule prototypes (MVC): 1) coherent microcapsules (CM), and 2) medium-size microcapsules (300-400 mu, MSM). CM, which envelop each individual islet within a thin alginate hydrogel cast, are prepared by emulsification, whereas MSM are made by atomizing the islet-alginate suspension through a special microdroplet generator. Upon graft into diabetic rodents, CM have shown to immunoprotect both allo- and xenogeneic nondiscordant islets, and restored normoglycemia. In higher mammals, at subtherapeutic doses, CM fully immunoprotected islet allografts (pig-->pig), but only temporarily xenografts (dog-->pig). We then used MSM to immunoisolate canine islet allografts in the peritoneal cavity of dogs with spontaneous insulin-dependent diabetes. Of three grafted dogs, two showed full remission of hyperglycemia with insulin withdrawal. MSM could represent an intermediate solution between CSM and CM for peritoneal immunoisolated islet transplants.

Transthoracic, transesophageal, and intraoperative ultrasonography were useful for localization and removal of migrating intrathoracic grass awns. Ultrasonography may be considered a valuable and readily available diagnostic tool for monitoring dogs with suspected migrating intrathoracic grass awns.

Although patellar luxation was more common in small breed dogs, it also was diagnosed in a significant number of large breed dogs, which included medial patellar luxation in 73% and lateral patellar luxation in 27% of stifles. Body weight and grade of luxation were the only variables statistically correlated with surgical complications.

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Such results suggest that this protocol for the isolation and microencapsulation of pSCs is compatible with long-haul transportation and that Ba-MCpSCs could be potentially employable for xenotransplantation.

A 3-year-old English Setter dog was presented for an acute onset of coughing. Tracheobronchoscopic examination allowed localization and removal of one grass awn foreign body. A second migrated grass awn was suspected to be present in the left caudal lung lobe. Transesophageal ultrasound revealed an area of pulmonary consolidation in the dorsomedial portion of left caudal lobe and a linear hyperechoic structure consistent with a grass awn foreign body within the area of consolidation. Transesophageal ultrasonography was also used to provide anatomical landmarks that facilitated successful thoracoscopic removal of the foreign body.