Mechanical Ventilation of a Dog with Pentobarbital Intoxication

Abstract

Summary A 9‐year old spayed female American bulldog presented 5 hours after ingesting a portion of a recently euthanized sheep carcass. The dog was comatose, intubated and manually ventilated on arrival. On physical examination, the dog had stable cardiovascular parameters but was hypothermic. Cranial nerve reflexes were absent and spinal reflexes were depressed. Mechanical ventilation was initiated and maintained for 18 hours before spontaneous respiration returned. Elevated serum pentobarbital concentration (19.1 mg/ml) confirmed pentobarbital intoxication as the cause of neurological signs. This is the first report of a dog with pentobarbital toxicity that was successfully managed with mechanical ventilation. Neurologic and functional recovery was complete and the dog was discharged 48 hours after admission. (J Vet Emerg Crit Care 2001; 11(1):33–37)

Indication, management, and outcome of brachycephalic dogs requiring mechanical ventilation

“…MV can be necessary for the management of respiratory failure and several studies have demonstrated successful management of veterinary patients using MV 14–18 . BD are frequently presented with respiratory distress 2 .…”

“…MV can be necessary for the management of respiratory failure and several studies have demonstrated successful management of veterinary patients using MV. [14][15][16][17][18] BD are frequently presented with respiratory distress. 2 However, the present study is the first to document that among all dogs admitted to a veterinary hospital for intensive care BD more frequently receive MV than non-BD.…”

“…2 In the critical care setting, mechanical ventilation (MV) is considered the therapy of choice when a patient is unable to oxygenate or ventilate adequately and medical management has failed. [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Animals with impending respiratory fatigue, but normal or unobtainable oxygenation and ventilation parameters, may also benefit from MV. 19 It is commonly recognized that MV in veterinary patients is not a benign procedure.…”

Successful resuscitation and neurological monitoring of a dog with out‐of‐hospital cardiopulmonary arrest due to pentobarbital overdose

“…While intoxicated dogs have been reported to recover from a coma, there are no reports of successful resuscitation and long-term survival following death from pentobarbital intoxication. 14 As pentobarbital is rarely used as an anticonvulsant these days, unless specified in the treatment history, it may not be considered as a potential toxicant. The LD 50 of pentobarbital in dogs is reported to be 40-60 mg/kg (IV) and in people is 35 mg/L.…”

Transient leucopenia, thrombocytopenia and anaemia associated with severe acute phenobarbital intoxication in a dog

“…It was recently reported that a continuous infusion of barbiturates to human beings with brain injuries caused reversible granulocytopenia and bone marrow suppression one day after starting treatment (Stover and Stocker 1998). In another report, a dog with acute pentobarbital intoxication showed signs of leucopenia and mild anaemia with a normal platelet (PLT) count (Laforcade and others 2001).…”