The effects of surgery and anesthesia on blood magnesium and calcium concentrations in canine and feline patients1

doi:10.1111/j.1467-2995.2006.00300.x

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Wiley InterScience

Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia

Volume 34 Issue 2, Pages 89 - 98

Published Online: 4 Jan 2007

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RESEARCH PAPER

The effects of surgery and anesthesia on blood magnesium and calcium concentrations in canine and feline patients¹

Benjamin M Brainard* VMD, Vicki L Campbell† DVM, DACVA, DACVECC, Kenneth J Drobatz* MSCE, DVM, DACVIM, DACVECC & Sandra Z Perkowski* PhD, VMD, DACVA

*Section of Critical Care, Department of Clinical Studies, Matthew J Ryan Hospital of the Veterinary School, University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania, PA, USA
†Section of Critical Care, James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA

Correspondence to Benjamin Brainard, Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA. E-mail: brainard@uga.edu

¹ Portions of this manuscript have been presented in abstract form at the International Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Symposia (IVECCS) in 2002 and 2003.

KEYWORDS

anesthesia • canine • feline • ionized calcium • ionized magnesium

Abstract

Objective To demonstrate the effect of anesthesia and surgery on serum ionized magnesium and ionized calcium concentrations in clinical canine and feline patients.

Animals 37 client-owned dogs, ASA PS I–III and 10 client-owned cats, ASA PS I, all receiving anesthesia for elective or emergent surgery at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

Materials and methods Plasma ionized and serum total magnesium, and plasma ionized calcium were measured prior to and after a group-standardized anesthetic protocol.

Results Regardless of pre-operative medication (hydromorphone or butorphanol), anesthetic induction (thiopental or lidocaine/hydromorphone/diazepam (LHD) and propofol combination), or type of surgical procedure (peripheral surgery or laparotomy), post-operative plasma ionized calcium concentration decreased in all groups of dogs, while post-operative plasma ionized magnesium increased in all groups, although the changes were not always significant. The dogs who were induced with an LHD and propofol technique had a greater increase in ionized magnesium (0.36 ± 0.07 to 0.42 ± 0.07 mmol L⁻¹) than the group in which anesthesia was induced with thiopental (0.41 ± 0.07 to 0.42 ± 0.07 mmol L⁻¹, p = 0.009). The cats showed similar changes in ionized magnesium and ionized calcium, and also had a significant increase in serum total magnesium (2.17 ± 0.20 to 2.31 ± 0.25 mg dL⁻¹, p = 0.009)

Conclusions, clinical relevance A post-operative decrease in ionized calcium was demonstrated in healthy animals, as well as an increase in ionized or total magnesium after various anesthetic protocols and surgeries. These changes, while statistically significant, do not appear to be clinically significant, as values remained within reference ranges at all times.

Received 18 January 2005; accepted 7 December 2005.

DIGITAL OBJECT IDENTIFIER (DOI)

10.1111/j.1467-2995.2006.00300.x About DOI