EXPRESS: Effect of Intraoperative Positioning on Anesthetic Variables in Cats Undergoing a Perineal Urethrostomy.

Positioning does not affect anesthetic outcomes in cats undergoing perineal urethrostomy.

This retrospective study evaluated whether intraoperative positioning during perineal urethrostomy (PU) in cats affects anesthetic variables and postoperative outcomes. Ninety-seven client-owned cats undergoing PU were positioned in either sternal recumbency (SR, n=55) or dorsal recumbency (DR, n=42). Researchers collected comprehensive data on preoperative parameters, anesthetic variables including hypotension, hypertension, bradycardia, tachycardia, hypoventilation, and hypothermia, as well as postoperative serum creatinine concentrations. The primary concern was minimizing additional kidney injury during anesthesia in cats with acute kidney injury (AKI), common in urethral obstruction cases. Results demonstrated no significant differences between positioning groups in intraoperative anesthetic complications or postoperative serum creatinine levels. Although a statistically significant difference existed in the number of preoperative obstructive episodes between groups, this finding lacked clinical relevance. The authors concluded that positioning should not influence anesthetic protocol optimization for cats with urethral obstruction-associated AKI, allowing surgeon preference to guide positioning decisions.

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