Peri‐anaesthetic management of three dogs undergoing renal transplantation surgery

Abstract

This report describes the perioperative anaesthetic management of three dogs undergoing renal transplant surgery at the University of Pennsylvania using a familial donor kidney. All three cases were pre-medicated with morphine for preoperative sedation and analgesia. Two cases were induced with a combination of fentanyl, midazolam and propofol. One case was induced with etomidate and midazolam. Anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane in oxygen and an opioid constant-rate infusion in all three cases, with one case also receiving a ketamine constant-rate infusion throughout the anaesthetic procedure. Intraoperative complications that were corrected included hypotension (N = 2), hypokalaemia (N = 2), hyperkalaemia (N = 2), metabolic and respiratory acidosis (N = 2), low colloid-oncotic pressure (N = 2), tachycardia (N = 1), bradycardia (N = 1) and anaemia secondary to intraoperative haemorrhage (N = 1). All dogs survived to be discharged from the hospital. The total survival times were 623, 350 and 46 days, which are longer than the previously reported median survival time of 24 days from discharge.