Air embolism: The unknown story in ritual animal slaughter.

Abstract

The impact of sectioning the jugular veins in the ritual slaughter of animals for food consumption has not been well-characterized. The purpose of this review is to evaluate the consequences of severing the jugular veins. In animal slaughter, when the jugular vein is transected, air travels antegrade into the right ventricle due to the powerful suction effect of right ventricular diastolic function and retrograde into the cerebral circulation, due to the natural buoyancy of the air bubbles. Air sucked into the heart induces hypotension because it creates an 'air lock' in the heart and elicits reflexes in the pulmonary arteries. Air exceeding the pulmonary filtration threshold travels to the left ventricle where ejection creates emboli leading to systemic organ ischemia. Air emboli travelling to the brain through the vertebral artery produce cerebral ischemia, which will further accelerate the brain damage produced by the severed carotid arteries. Air embolism is a well-documented cause of death in animals as well as humans, and the larger the volume of air entering the circulation the faster death will ensue. Veterinarians should consider air embolism as another pathway in ritual slaughter that can lead to rapid animal death.