Pulmonary function, ventilator management, and outcome of dogs with thoracic trauma and pulmonary contusions: 10 cases (1994-1998)

Objective-To document pulmonary function, ventilator management, and outcome of dogs with thoracic trauma that required mechanical ventilation because of severe pulmonary contusions. Design-Retrospective study. Animals-10 dogs that required mechanical ventilation because of severe pulmonary contusions caused by blunt thoracic trauma. Procedure-Signalment, historical data, arterial blood gas values, oxygen tension-based indices, ventilator settings, peak inspiratory pressure, positive end-expiratory pressure, tidal volume, and minute ventilation values were retrieved from medical records. Results-All 10 dogs required positive-pressure ventilation because of dyspnea following trauma and had severely abnormal pulmonary function. Survival rate to discharge was 30%. Dogs were categorized into 2 groups; group A included 5 dogs in which pulmonary function improved during ventilation, whereas group B included 5 dogs that were euthanatized because of progressive lung dysfunction (n = 4) or cardiac arrest (1). Mean +/- SD body weight of group-A dogs (30.9 +/- 15.9 kg [68 +/- 35 lb]) was significantly greater than that of group-B dogs (7.6 +/- 1.8 kg [16.7 +/- 4 lb]). Dogs with improved lung function had peak inspiratory pressure that decreased progressively, whereas lung compliance deteriorated in dogs in group B. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-Dyspneic dogs with severe pulmonary contusions may require and benefit from positive-pressure ventilation Prognosis is better for dogs that weigh > 25 kg (55 lb).