02404-A: The Impact of Lidocaine Administration on Natural Killer Cell Populations in Canine Sepsis

One Health: Yes

Abstract

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that results from an excessive systemic inflammatory response to infection. This can occur due to infections in various parts of the body including the chest, abdomen, or bloodstream. Pure-bred dogs are overrepresented in clinical studies of abdominal sepsis due to gastrointestinal blockage or rupture. Dogs and humans with sepsis have up to a 50% mortality rate, with most dying from organ system failure. This high mortality rate has been linked to the dysfunction of several types of immune cells. One of these cell types, Natural Killer (NK) cells, plays a critical role in the killing of bacteria within the body, but their role has not been evaluated in dogs with sepsis. Administration of the local anesthetic lidocaine, a drug that can decrease pain and correct cardiac arrhythmias, has been shown to increase survival in dogs with sepsis. This study seeks (1) to determine the relationship between Natural Killer cell numbers and phenotype in the blood and disease severity in dogs with abdominal sepsis and (2) to evaluate if the administration of lidocaine during surgery changes NK cell numbers or affects survival rates in dogs with sepsis from abdominal infection.

Publication(s)

None at this time.