Retrospective study of pre-anesthetic electrocardiogram examination of 700 dogs conducted at the Veterinary Hospital of UFMG (2013-2014)

Abstract: Pre-operative electrocardiograms performed in 700 dogs were analyzed in order to establish correlation between sex, age, indication for surgery, body condition score, breed and weight. Initially a clinical questionnaire was filled out from each owner, including age, breed, sex, weight, clinical history and surgical indication. Dogs above 6 years of age or those showing any kind of cardiac auscultation disturbances were referred to electrocardiogram (ECG) evaluation. All ECG were performed and analyzed by the same veterinary specialist. Abnormalities at ECG were founnd in 364 of 700 (52%) evaluated dogs, and the most frequent variation was sinus arrhythmia, observed in 293 dogs (25.4%). No significant correlation was found between the electrocardiographic alterations with weight, sex and age of the animals. Therefore ECG should be conducted routinely regardless of age, sex, breed or surgical indication, highlighting its value for determining a safe anesthetic protocol that promotes minimal cardiopulmonary depression and allows rapid post-surgical recovery.