Nebulization of epinephrine to reduce the severity of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome in dogs.

To determine the preoperative and postoperative effect of nebulized epinephrine on brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) severity in dogs. Prospective clinical study. Thirty-one client-owned pugs, French bulldogs, and English bulldogs with moderate to severe BOAS. Whole body barometric plethysmography was used to determine BOAS severity (BOAS index; 0%-100%) prior to and after nebulization with 0.05 mg/kg epinephrine diluted in 0.9% saline preoperatively. The same protocol was repeated postoperatively (within 24 hours of surgery). Five dogs were excluded because they did not tolerate nebulization, and postoperative data were available for 13 dogs. Epinephrine nebulization resulted in a decreased BOAS index across all breeds of dog both before (9.6% [3.1% to -30.2%], n = 26) and after surgery (14.3% [0.9% to -24.3%], n = 13). The preoperative reduction in BOAS index was greater (17.3% [1.8% to -27.4%]) in dogs with a baseline BOAS index >70% (P = .006) and in pugs (16.9% [0.8% to -27.4%]) compared with French bulldogs (5.2% [3.1% to -30.2%], P = .03). Simple linear regression was used to identify a positive relationship between baseline BOAS index and reduction in BOAS index for pugs (n = 10, P = .001). Nausea was noted as a side effect in four dogs. Nebulized epinephrine reduced the BOAS index of dogs in this study. This effect was clinically significant in preoperative dogs with a BOAS index >70% and in dogs recovering from surgery. This study provides evidence to support the use of nebulized epinephrine in the perioperative management of BOAS-affected dogs. © 2020 The Authors. Veterinary Surgery published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Citation

Phil H Franklin, Nai-Chieh Liu, Jane F Ladlow. Nebulization of epinephrine to reduce the severity of brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome in dogs. Veterinary surgery : VS. 2021 Jan;50(1):62-70

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PMID: 33044024

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