Evaluation of a real-time, continuous monitor of glucose concentration in healthy dogs during anesthesia.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the accuracy of a real-time, continuous glucose monitoring system (CGMS) in healthy dogs undergoing anesthesia for elective ovariohysterectomy or orchiectomy.

ANIMALS

10 healthy dogs undergoing routine elective surgery.

PROCEDURES

A CGMS was placed and used to obtain calculated glucose measurements before, during, and after anesthesia in each dog. Periodically, CGMS measurements were compared with concurrent measurements of glucose concentration in peripheral venous blood obtained with a portable chemistry analyzer (PCA).

RESULTS

CGMS-calculated glucose measurements were significantly different from PCA blood glucose measurements during most of the anesthetic period. The CGMS values differed from PCA values by > 20% in 54 of 126 (42.9%) paired measurements obtained during the anesthetic period. Hypoglycemia was evident in CGMS measurements 25 of 126 (19.8%) times during anesthesia. By comparison, only 1 incident of hypoglycemia was detected with the PCA during the same period.

CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE

Use of the CGMS for routine monitoring of interstitial glucose concentration as an indicator of blood glucose concentration during anesthesia cannot be recommended. Additional investigation is necessary to elucidate the cause of discrepancy between CGMS results and PCA data during anesthesia.