Prevalence of Corneal Lesions in Dogs After Non-Ocular Surgery: Impact of Preoperative Topical Lubrication and Duration of Anaesthesia
Abstract
Corneal lesions are the most common ophthalmologic complication that occurs during general anesthesia (GA) for non-ocular surgery (Di Pietro et al., 2021). The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of corneal lesions in dogs that were administered preoperative ocular lubrication and those that did not and how the duration of anesthesia influences the occurrence of them. A fluorescein test was performed before and after anesthesia in 18 dogs undergoing non-ophthalmic procedures. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups of 9 subjects each, group A which received preoperative ocular lubrication and group B that did not. Subsequently, the subjects were divided into three groups according to the duration of anesthesia in order to highlight the correlation between its duration and the occurrence of corneal lesions: group 1 (under 90 minutes) with 4 subjects, group 2 (between 90 and 180 minutes) with 9 subjects and group 3 (over 180 minutes) with 5 subjects. Only 11% (1 subject) of group A showed postoperative corneal lesion, while no subjects in the group B showed a positive fluorescein test result. 20% of subjects (1 subject) from group 3 had postoperative corneal lesions and a positive fluorescein test result, while no subjects from group 1 and 2 showed a postoperative positive fluorescein test result. The results of the study could not highlight the protective role of preoperative ocular lubrication. Further studies on a larger number of subjects and homogeneous groups are needed for more relevant results.
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