• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.212-219
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• 2009

Anticholinergics, which are commonly given as a pre-anesthetic medication to prevent adverse effects in canine anesthesia, can cause cardiac adverse effects. To determine the effects of atropine and glycopyrrolate on the balance of sympathetic nervous tone and parasympathetic nervous tone of the heart during ketamine anesthesia in beagle dogs, heart rate variability(HRV), duration of anesthesia and behavioral changes were evaluated. There were no significant temporal domain differences between atropine and glycopyrrolate. Concerning the frequency domain component, atropine and glycopyrrolate effects were significantly lower(P<0.05) than the control saline-treated group. However, the root mean square of the interval differences between consecutive R peaks(RMSSD) and the standard deviation of Poincare plot perpendicular to the line-of-identity(SD1) in atropine were significantly decreased(P<0.05) from the baseline value, and the low frequency/high frequency ratio(LF:HF ratio) in glycopyrrolate was significantly increased from baseline value(P<0.05). The change of SD1 agreed with that of the high frequency(HF) in the frequency domain component and also with those of respiratory rate and $SpO_2-R$. Our results prove that glycopyrrolate is more suitable as a pre-anesthetic anticholinergic in ketamine anesthesia of dogs with respect to safety and duration of action.