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What You Should Know when your pet needs
Anesthesia.
The following safety procedures are
included in the price of all surgeries at KAH, as part of our commitment to excellence:
Safety precautions that KAH takes are:
Phase 1.
Before Anesthetic:
Pre-operative testing,
pain control & sedation
Phase 2.
Pre-oxygenation
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•The
pre-oxygenation process
allows
the patient to breathe 100% oxygen just before and at the completion
of anesthesia,
improves the safety of anesthesia and improves recovery time.
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Phase 3. Induction -
with a “short acting” general anesthetic
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This is a very critical
stage where your pet is actually induced into a surgical
plane of anesthesia. |
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At KAH, we use Propofol
injectable anesthesia for both induction and short
procedures. |
Phase 4. Maintenance -
on “short acting” or inhalation anesthesia- and monitoring:
General Anesthesia
Induction:
with a short acting
general anesthetic. We only use Propofol for beginning anesthesia or
for short procedures. This agent is the most
expensive but also the safest agent ever used in Veterinary Medicine. It gives
smooth quick induction and rapid recovery without a hangover. For procedures
longer than 10 minutes your pet is maintained under general anesthetic with Isoflurane gas to keep them asleep. Isoflurane is a very safe anesthetic gas
which allows rapid changes in the level of anesthesia.
Safety Monitors
As an additional
safety precaution, we monitor your pet's blood pressure, Carbon Dioxide (Capnography-monitoring
carbon dioxide levels in the patient), heart rate, EKG, body
temperature, Oxygen saturation of the blood, respiratory rate and depth using a
combination of computerized monitoring equipment.
Capnography-monitoring carbon dioxide
levels in the patient-
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Normal air contains only 20% oxygen. |
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At KAH, animals under anesthesia breathe
100% oxygen, which increases the amount of oxygen going to all tissues. |
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Determining the amount of carbon dioxide
your pet eliminates from his or her body is very important. |
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Capnography is a measurement of the
amount of carbon dioxide inhaled and exhaled by a patient under anesthesia. |
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This measurement indicates how well a
patient is breathing under anesthesia, allowing adjustments to be made to
the level of anesthesia. |
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Capnography is a critical element in
ensuring safer anesthesia. At KAH we monitor many parameters, two of which
are oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in the blood. |
Warmth and Comfort -
For your pets
comfort and safety they will be placed on a thermal barrier to help maintain
their body temperature. For long procedures we have specially designed,
continuously circulating warm water blankets to keep them warm and comfortable.
Human Monitoring –
Despite having state of the art computerized monitoring equipment nothing
replaces constant human observation. Besides the veterinary surgeon there is always a
veterinary assistant present to personally monitor your pets vital signs as well
as monitor the level of anesthesia and equipment.
Veterinary Assistant,
Susan
constantly monitors the computer screen and the patient itself.
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Phase 5. Post-Oxygenation -
Post-Oxygenation - As your pet awakes it will continue to breathe pure oxygen
until the endotracheal tube is removed from their windpipe.
Phase 6. Post
Anesthesia Recovery and Pain Control:
Post Operative Pain Control-
Your pet
will be given an injectable medication for post operative
pain control, as well as pills for at home use. Cats tolerate very few orally administered pain
control drugs. For this reason we do not give prescriptions for cats. We do
make sure they have sufficient and safe pain control while at KAH.
Post Anesthesia -
After anesthesia,
we require that your pet be fully awake before going home. All pets are
slightly sedate which helps provide a smooth and comfortable post operative
recovery. Be careful to not let the pet fall down the stairs or get into a
fight with other pets. Any lethargy usually passes within 24 hours, if it
does not please call KAH.
Food and Water –
The preoperative drugs
and general anesthesia slows the digestive tract of your pet. Unless otherwise
instructed do not feed your pet more than one third of their normal days intake
of food and water in very small portions the night of the
surgery. To do so may cause vomiting.
The next day you can feed and water normally.
If you want to compare KAH to other
Veterinary Hospitals we provide you an
Anesthesia and Surgical Check List you can print off for easy comparison.
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