Prolonged anesthesia with desflurane and fentanyl in dogs during conventional and laparoscopic surgery

Objective-To determine the effects of prolonged anesthesia with desflurane in dogs undergoing laparotomy or abdominal laparoscopy. Design-Randomized prospective study. Animals-20 adult mixed-breed dogs. Procedure-Dogs were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups with 10 dogs/group. Anesthesia was induced with propofol and maintained with desflurane and fen tanyl, and pyloroplasty was performed. In 10 dogs, a ventral midline laparo tomy was performed; in the other 10, abdominal laparoscopy was performed. D ogs were monitored for cardiovascular and respiratory responses (ECG, oxyge n saturation [Spo(2)], arterial blood pressure, rectal temperature, end-tid al partial pressure of carbon dioxide [PETCO2], and expired desflurane conc entration). Recovery times were recorded. Results-Mean SID duration of anesthesia was 201 +/- 25 minutes for dogs und ergoing laparotomy and 287 +/- 15 minutes for dogs undergoing laparoscopy. Anesthesia was accompanied by hypotension that was less severe in dogs unde rgoing laparoscopy. Heart rate did not vary significantly during anesthesia . The Spo(2) was > 97% in all dogs at all times, and PETCO2 remained within reference limits. Recovery times for dogs that underwent laparotomy were n ot significantly different from those for dogs that underwent laparoscopy. Mean SID time to standing was 13.6 +/- 2.4 minutes for dogs that underwent laparotomy and 12.5 +/- 2.9 minutes for dogs that underwent laparoscopy. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Results suggest that induction of anesth esia with propofol and maintenance with desflurane and fentanyl is safe in dogs undergoing abdominal surgery.