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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Medicine
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1467043

Point of Care Ultrasound Measurement of Paralumbar Caudal Vena Cava Diameter and Caudal Vena Cava to Aortic Ratio in Hypovolemic Dogs

Provisionally accepted
Jenna H. Cardillo Jenna H. Cardillo Amanda A. Cavanagh Amanda A. Cavanagh *Kristin Zersen Kristin Zersen
  • Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background -Accurate assessment of intravascular volume is critical for precise fluid prescription. In people, bedside or point of care ultrasound is used to measure the inferior vena cava, with or without paired aortic measurement, to estimate intravascular volume.Objective -To determine if point of care ultrasound measurement of the caudal vena cava (CVC) diameter or the CVC diameter to the abdominal aorta (Ao) diameter (CVC:Ao) at the paralumbar view are associated with changes in intravascular volume, mean arterial pressure (MAP), or cardiac output in normovolemic and hypovolemic dogs.Methods-Pressure-targeted hemorrhagic shock was induced in purpose-bred dogs under general anesthesia. Dogs were exsanguinated to a mean arterial pressure of 40mmHg, or a maximum 60% blood volume lost, then auto-transfused shed blood. At a left paralumbar view, longitudinal plane measurements of the abdominal CVC diameter and aortic diameter were obtained. Measurements were performed at 4 timepoints: baseline under anesthesia (TP1), after hemorrhagic shock was induced (TP2), after ½ of shed blood had been re-transfused (TP3), and post-resuscitation with completed re-transfusion (TP4). Additional variables collected included cardiac output using thermodilution and arterial blood pressure.Results-CVC:Ao was not significantly different between timepoints and was not associated with changes in CO (p=0.28) or MAP (p=0.50). CVC diameter was significantly different between baseline (TP1) and hemorrhagic shock (TP2). CVC diameter was significantly different at TP2 compared to TP1 after controlling for the effect of CO (p=0.03) and MAP (p=0.001). Aortic diameter was also significantly different at TP2 (p = 0.002, p=0.001) and TP3 (p=0.023, p=0.017) compared to TP1 after controlling for CO and MAP.Importance-Obtaining point of care ultrasound images for CVC:Ao measurement was feasible. With a marked decrease in intravascular volume, both CVC and Ao diameter decreased, resulting in an unchanged CVC:Ao. Despite changes in CVC and Ao diameters,

    Keywords: Volume assessment, Point of care ultrasound, Caudal vena cava, Fluid Therapy, dog

    Received: 19 Jul 2024; Accepted: 08 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Cardillo, Cavanagh and Zersen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Amanda A. Cavanagh, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, United States

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