Fig 1.
(A) Example of the AVAcore pads placed on both front paws of an anesthetized dog in dorsal recumbency, attached with an expansile wrap, and connected to the water pump. (B) AVAcore pads are then covered with a light, washable cotton pouch.
Fig 2.
Change in rectal temperature following pre-medication, induction and inhalant anesthesia.
Dogs were studied in six groups in a cross over design combining premedications and warming devices: acepromazine and no warming devices (ACE-NONE; gray circles), acepromazine and conventional warming devices (ACE-CONV; gray triangles), acepromazine and the AVAcore (ACE-AVA, gray squares), dexmedetomidine and no warming devices (DEX-NONE, white circles), dexmedetomidine and conventional warming devices (DEX-CONV, white triangles), and dexmedetomidine and the AVAcore (DEX-AVA, white squares). The absolute change in temperature from baseline showed three significantly different temporal patterns: T0-T15 minutes following premedication, T15-T30 minutes following propofol induction, and >T30 minutes following induction into anesthetic maintenance (all P < 0.05, differences indicated by dotted lines). Overall, when all time points and warming treatments were combined, ACE had significantly larger decreases in body temperature versus DEX, mainly attributable to significant differences at >T30 minutes (both P < 0.05). When ACE and DEX groups were considered separately, the slopes of the temperature changes differed between all warming treatments (NONE, CONV, AVA) despite premedication (significant differences between groups depicted by different lowercase letters; all P < 0.05). When warming treatment groups were analyzed separately, at >T30 minutes no significant differences in slopes were found between ACE and DEX within the NONE and AVA treatments but the DEX-CONV group had a more positive slope versus the ACE-CONV group (*P < 0.05). Data are presented as mean ± SD.
Table 1.
Times to tracheal extubation, sternal recumbency and standing (minutes) following inhalant anesthesia and final rectal temperatures (°C) in each premedication-treatment group.
Fig 3.
Effects of pre-medication and warming device on systolic (SAP), diastolic (DAP) and mean (MAP) arterial pressures in dogs following pre-medication, induction and inhalant anesthesia.
Dogs were studied in six groups in a cross over design combining premedications and warming devices: acepromazine and no warming devices (ACE-NONE; gray circles), acepromazine and conventional warming devices (ACE-CONV; gray triangles), acepromazine and the AVAcore (ACE-AVA, gray squares), dexmedetomidine and no warming devices (DEX-NONE, white circles), dexmedetomidine and conventional warming devices (DEX-CONV, white triangles), and dexmedetomidine and the AVAcore (DEX-AVA, white squares). When all time points were considered, dogs administered ACE had significantly lower SAP, DAP, and MAP compared to DEX administration despite the warming treatment group (**P < 0.05). Overall, the ACE-CONV group had higher SAP, DAP and MAP compared with the ACE-NONE and ACE-AVA groups, and the DEX-CONV group had higher SAP, DAP, and MAP compared with the DEX-NONE and DEX-AVA groups, respectively (*P < 0.05).
Fig 4.
Effects of pre-medication and warming device on heart rate (HR) assessed by pulse oximetry in dogs following pre-medication, induction and inhalant anesthesia.
Dogs were studied in six groups in a cross over design combining premedications and warming devices: acepromazine and no warming devices (ACE-NONE; gray circles), acepromazine and conventional warming devices (ACE-CONV; gray triangles), acepromazine and the AVAcore (ACE-AVA, gray squares), dexmedetomidine and no warming devices (DEX-NONE, white circles), dexmedetomidine and conventional warming devices (DEX-CONV, white triangles), and dexmedetomidine and the AVAcore (DEX-AVA, white squares). When all time points were considered, dogs administered ACE had significantly higher HR compared to DEX administration despite the warming treatment group (**P < 0.05). Overall, the ACE-CONV group had higher HR compared with the ACE-NONE and ACE-AVA groups, and the DEX-CONV group had higher HR compared with the DEX-NONE and DEX-AVA groups, respectively (*P < 0.05).