Abstract:
The objective of this study was to describe the changes in plasma glucose concentration in
20 severely injured dogs suffering from dog bite wounds over a period of 72 hours from
the initiation of trauma. Historical, signalment, clinical and haematological factors were
investigated for their possible effect on plasma glucose concentration. Haematology was
repeated every 24 hours and plasma glucose concentrations were measured at 8-hourly
intervals post-trauma. On admission, 1 dog was hypoglycaemic, 8 were normoglycaemic
and 11 were hyperglycaemic. No dogs showed hypoglycaemia at any other stage during
the study period. The median blood glucose concentrations at each of the 10 collection
points, excluding the 56-hour and 64-hour collection points, were in the hyperglycaemic
range (5.8– 6.2 mmol/ ). Puppies and thin dogs had significantly higher median plasma
glucose concentrations than adult and fat dogs respectively (P < 0.05 for both). Fifteen
dogs survived the 72-hour study period. Overall 13 dogs (81.3 %) made a full recovery after
treatment. Three of 4 dogs that presented in a collapsed state died, whereas all dogs
admitted as merely depressed or alert survived (P = 0.004). The high incidence of hyperglycaemia
can possibly be explained by the ’diabetes of injury“ phenomenon. However,
hyperglycaemia in this group of dogs was marginal and potential benefits of insulin
therapy are unlikely to outweigh the risk of adverse effects such as hypoglycaemia.
