The effects of the depth of ether anesthesia for surface-induced hypothermia on hemodynamics and blood gas were experimentally studied in the adult Beagle dogs. The dogs were classified into 3 groups according to the depth of ether anesthesia; group I (middle), group II (deep), and group III (light) . Severe arrhythmia was found in groups II and III, and 6 dogs (66.7%) of group II died of ventricular fibrillation or standstill. During hypothermia, hemodynamic changes of groups I and III were significantly milder than those of group II. Aortic mean pressure of group I was maintained higher than that of group III, and the difference was especially significant at the esophageal temperature of 20°C (p<0.01) . From these results, the ether anesthesia in group I seemed to be superior to that of other groups. Under this level of ether anesthesia, the mean blood ether concentration was 153 mg/dl at the esophageal temperature of 20°C. Moreover, because a good correlation was noted between blood pH or BE and blood ether concentration, it seemed that they were better indicators of the depth of ether anesthesia.

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A 10-year-old female dog with anal sac adenocarcinoma complicated with hypercalcemia was underwent surgical treatment. Postoperative tetany caused by hypocalcemia was observed 2 days after surgery. The dog was treated with calcium, activated vitamin D₃ and calcium carbonate satisfactory, but the canine patient was died suddenly 214 days after surgery. The reason was unknown. We suspected that severe compensatory atrophy of parathyroid or hypoparathyroidism was influenced postoperative hypocalcemia.

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A 9-year-old female Golden Retriever was presented for a maxillary mass. The mass was excised for histological examination, showing proliferation of spindle cells. In the referal Veterinary Teaching Hospital of Hokkaido University, intraoral observation under sedation revealed an ulcerative mass arising from the gingiva to external maxillary surface and a swelling of the hard palate. The computed tomography (CT) showed destruction of the maxilla bone and extension of the mass into the nasal cavity. Bilateral rostral maxillectomy was planned according to the CT findings and performed. Histological examination for the surgically resected tissues indicated well-differentiated fibrosarcoma and tumor-free surgical margins. Though the shortening of the upper jaw was apparent, recurrence and metastasis were not observed 25 months after surgery.

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It is well known that the ultrasonically activated instrument is useful for general and laparoscopic surgery in human medicine. In veterinary medicine, there are few informations about the application of this instrument. This report introduced how to use the ultrasonically activated instrument, Harmonic Scalpel^® (Johnson & Johnson K.K.), for small animal surgical procedures. The report also showed some cases operated with the instrument.

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