Light meal decreases the incidence of gastro-esophageal reflux in dogs

Gastro-esophageal reflux (GER) is one of the major complications of general anesthesia and may result in pulmonary aspiration of gastric contents (GC), a potentially devastating complication. Indeed, one of the most common causes of death related directly to anesthesia in humans is pulmonary aspiration of GC. In dogs and cats, there has been no published report of pulmonary aspiration of GC at induction of anesthesia, but intraoperative GER has been considered to be one of the main causes of esophagitis, which may lead to stricture formation.
Source: Advances in Small Animal Medicine and Surgery - Category: Veterinary Research Tags: Surgery (Soft Tissue) Source Type: research