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The Exam RoomBy The VeterinaryPracticeNow Desk3 min readAugust 11, 2026
The anesthesia choice that didn't move the endothelial needle
A randomized trial measured endothelial biomarkers in dogs anesthetized with sevoflurane versus isoflurane and found no difference.
A randomized trial measured endothelial glycocalyx biomarkers in dogs anesthetized with sevoflurane versus isoflurane and found no difference between the two agents. The study also found that hyaluronan levels dropped during anesthesia in both groups.
What the study found
No significant differences in postanesthetic SDC1 were observed between the sevoflurane (14.3 ng/mL, 6.5-40.6) and isoflurane groups (20.0 ng/mL, 13.6-24.2; p = 0.129). Postanesthetic hyaluronan concentrations also showed no significant difference between the two groups (p = 0.560). Hyaluronan levels decreased significantly after anesthesia in both the sevoflurane group (p = 0.013) and the isoflurane group (p = 0.011).
How the study was built
This was a prospective, randomized controlled trial conducted at a university teaching hospital. Twenty-eight client-owned dogs scheduled for magnetic resonance imaging and potential surgery for intervertebral disc disease were enrolled and randomly assigned to receive either isoflurane or sevoflurane, with 14 dogs in each group. Serum SDC1 and HA concentrations were measured before and after anesthesia using commercial ELISA kits validated for dogs. This is a small single-center trial in a specific surgical population, which limits how broadly the findings apply to other case types or settings.
The number, and its error bars
Postanesthetic SDC1 in the sevoflurane group was 14.3 ng/mL (6.5-40.6) versus 20.0 ng/mL (13.6-24.2) in the isoflurane group (p = 0.129). The median postanesthetic hyaluronan concentration in the sevoflurane group was 14.2 ng/mL (range 7.3-36.8) versus 14.2 ng/mL (range 0.32-44.1) in the isoflurane group, with p = 0.560. The within-group comparison for hyaluronan showed a significant decrease after anesthesia in both groups.
What the authors say it cannot tell you
The abstract does not state limitations, which is itself a limitation. A reader cannot assess what the authors considered the study's weaknesses, sample-size constraints, population generalizability, or biomarker interpretation, without access to the full text.
Who paid for it
The abstract does not state funding sources or conflicts of interest.
What this means for your practice
VeterinaryPracticeNow's read, not the study's. Everything in this section is our editorial interpretation for practice owners. The study does not claim any of it.
This is a null result in a small trial, and null results matter because they tell you where NOT to spend decision energy. If you stock both agents and have been wondering whether one is gentler on the endothelium in routine anesthesia, this study says the biomarker evidence we have does not point to a difference. The hyaluronan drop is interesting but happened in both groups, so it does not favor one agent over the other.
If you run cases like these and want the studies that change your protocols, or confirm they don't need changing, subscribe to VeterinaryPracticeNow.
Our read: if you've been weighing these two agents on endothelial biomarker grounds for intervertebral disc cases, this study found no difference on the markers it measured. Twenty-eight dogs is a small sample, and this was one hospital and one case type, so the finding is narrow, but within that scope, the evidence says the two agents look the same on these markers.
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