Influence of anesthetic regimen on the frequency of seizures after cervical myelography in the dog.

We examined the influence of various anesthetic drug combinations on the frequency of seizures in dogs after cervical myelography with metrizamide. Over a 12-month period, 78 dogs admitted to the teaching hospital for cervical myelography were assigned randomly to 1 of 6 anesthetic protocols. Myelography was performed, and the dogs were observed for signs of seizure activity after recovery from anesthesia. The person making the decision as to whether or not a dog had had a seizure was unaware of the anesthetic protocol that had been used. Preanesthetic treatment with pentobarbital (5.0 mg/kg) and maintenance of anesthesia with methoxyflurane significantly reduced the frequency of seizures (P less than 0.05). No reduction in seizure frequency was seen with any anesthetic protocol using halothane as the maintenance agent.