Intravenous lipid emulsions as an antidote in the veterinary practice Part 2: Practical guidelines

The use of intravenous lipid emulsions (ILE) in human clinical toxicology has become a common practice as life-saving treatment for cardiotoxicity after local anesthetics overdose. Case reports indicate ILE may be useful in the resuscitation from toxicity induced by a variety of other lipophilic cardiotoxic drugs like various tricyclic antidepressants (TCA), lipofilic g-blockers and calcium channel blockers. Several veterinary case reports have demonstrated that ILE are primarily used in the management of long-lasting neurotoxicity like permethrin toxicosis in cats and ivermectin toxicosis in dogs. Treatment with ILE can result in a faster recovery leading to shorter admission times in the veterinary practice. Practical guidelines for the use of ILE during the treatment of intoxications will be given here.