Preliminary study evaluating the assessment of changes in pulmonary function associated with body positioning in dogs with suspected aspiration pneumonia.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the variability in arterial blood gas (ABG) assessment of pulmonary function with different body positioning in dogs with suspected aspiration pneumonia.


KEY FINDINGS
The median differences in alveolar-arterial gradient, PaO2 and PaCO2 values in different recumbencies were not statistically significantly different, both within patients and across the study population. No difference was noted in ABG values in the subgroups with unilateral or bilateral disease, or that were more affected on the right side vs the left side.


SIGNIFICANCE
This preliminary study provides data that can be used to calculate appropriate sample sizes for subsequent studies investigating the impact of recumbency on pulmonary function in patients with aspiration pneumonia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.