Isoflurane anesthesia and body temperature changes do not significantly affect Viscoelastic Coagulation Monitor Vet viscoelastography of New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of anesthesia and body temperature changes on a point-of-care viscoelastic coagulation monitoring device (VCM-Vet, Entegrion Corp) parameters in New Zealand white rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus).

METHODS

Purpose-bred New Zealand white rabbits were anesthetized in a research facility as part of a randomized, complete crossover study. Each rabbit was anesthetized using isoflurane twice (7 days apart), with or without a heated anesthesia circuit (Heated ZDS Qube; Darvall), over approximately 2 weeks. Lateral saphenous venipuncture was performed within 5 minutes of anesthetic induction (baseline) and at 50 minutes after anesthetic induction (T50) during each event. Fresh whole blood was immediately tested using a single VCM-Vet analyzer, providing 2 tracings per event. Statistical analysis was performed using a linear mixed model with significance at P < .05.

RESULTS

10 approximately 4-month-old intact male apparently healthy rabbits were included. All rabbits were normothermic (median, 39.3 °C; range, 38.5 to 39.8 °C) at baseline, and all rectal temperatures were lower at T50 compared to baseline (median, 1.6 °C; range, 0.7 to 2.1 °C). There was no statistically significant difference in any clot parameter between baseline and T50 nor between different rectal temperatures; however, there were statistical differences in 4 clot parameters between nonheated and heated anesthetic events.

CONCLUSIONS

Anesthesia and mildly decreased body temperature did not significantly impact the viscoelastography assessment.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Although thromboelastography reference intervals have been established in rabbits, the use of the VCM-Vet analyzer is understudied in this species. Future research is needed to determine VCM-Vet reference intervals for rabbits.