Advanced Anaesthesia for Surgical or Prolonged Procedures
An introduction to anaesthesia for surgical or prolonged procedures
Overview These articles provide guidance and information to individuals who, during their work with animals, anaesthetise them for surgical or...
Planning anaesthesia for surgical or prolonged procedures
Equipment Before anaesthetising an animal: Personnel Check that your assistants or co-workers have been properly briefed about the research protocol...
An introduction to anaesthetic regimens for surgical or prolonged procedures
The Triad of Anaesthesia Due to the benefits of producing loss of consciousness (avoiding stress associated with restraint, and immobilising...
Pre-anaesthetic medication
An overview Pre-anaesthetic medication is often included in anaesthetic protocols for larger species. The advantages of this are: Although the...
An introduction to inhalational agents for surgical or prolonged procedures
Inhalational agents can be used to provide safe and effective anaesthesia in virtually all laboratory species. A number of different...
Using inhalational agents for surgical or prolonged procedures
Introduction Modern anaesthetic agents are very potent, so it is easy to inadvertently overdose an animal. To avoid this, and...
An introduction to injectable agents for surgical or prolonged procedures
Advantages of injectable anaesthesia Disadvantages of injectable anaesthesia: Commonly used injectable anaesthetic agents There are many available injectable anaesthetic agents....
Administering injectable anaesthetics for surgical or prolonged procedures
Administration route choices What dose rate should we use? The dose of anaesthetic needed by individual animals varies, so the best...
Scientific and welfare considerations when selecting anaesthetic agents for surgical or prolonged procedures
Selection of a particular anaesthetic agent or anaesthetic technique will depend upon a variety of factors. Some of these will...
Practical issues when selecting anaesthetic agents for surgical or prolonged procedures
Rodents and rabbits The majority of injectable and inhalational agents available can be used in small mammals, but practical constraints...
Safety issues with anaesthetics for surgical or prolonged procedures
Many injectable anaesthetics are controlled drugs in the UK and elsewhere. Although the immediate risks associated with accidental self-injection are...
Maintaining and monitoring anaesthesia for surgical or prolonged procedures
Introduction All anaesthetics produce a reversible depression of central nervous system activity, and on occasion, the degree of depression may...
Assessing anaesthetic depth during surgical or prolonged procedures
Introduction Depth of anaesthesia is usually assessed from a combination of measures including the presence or absence of responses to...
Monitoring respiratory function during surgical or prolonged procedures
Observing the movements of the chest can be used to monitor the pattern and depth of respiration, although this becomes difficult...
Monitoring the cardiovascular system during surgical or prolonged procedures
To minimise the risk of circulatory failure, the cardiovascular system should be monitored during anaesthesia. Heart rate and rhythm can...
Monitoring blood pressure during surgical or prolonged procedures
Direct or indirect recording of systemic arterial blood pressure can be carried out in most animal species. Direct measurements are...
Maintaining fluid balance during surgical or prolonged procedures
It is of vital importance to support the circulation by correcting any fluid imbalances, and hypovolaemia should always be considered...
Monitoring and maintaining body temperature during surgical or prolonged procedures
Hypothermia Hypothermia is a fall in body temperature of more than 2˚C. It has major effects on different body systems...
Endotracheal intubation
Introduction Endotracheal intubation is the process of passing a tube through the larynx into the trachea, in order to maintain...
Mechanical ventilation
Introduction Many anaesthetic agents depress respiration and this can lead to the production of hypercapnia, hypoxia and acidosis. To maintain...
Use of neuromuscular blocking agents for surgical or prolonged procedures
Introduction Neuromuscular blocking (NMB) drugs, or “muscle relaxants” produce paralysis of the skeletal muscles. They may be used either to...
An introduction to post-operative and post-anaesthetic care after surgical or prolonged procedures
Introduction Recovery from anaesthesia should be smooth, without excitement, or prolonged recumbence and should be pain free. Since all animals...
Managing animals during recovery from anaesthesia
The immediate recovery period The swallowing and cough reflexes are usually suppressed during anaesthesia, and these gradually return as the...
Management of post-operative pain after surgical procedures
Pain in laboratory animals is a major animal welfare problem that must be addressed if we are to apply Russell...
Assessing post-operative pain
Introduction When examining animals, we often interpret certain clinical signs as suggesting the presence of pain based on how humans...
Analgesics used for pain relief
Introduction Leaving aside the problems of pain assessment, empirical treatment of presumed painful conditions will continue, and it is not...
Practical aspects of analgesic use
Information When formulating an analgesic regimen for a particular animal, several factors need to be considered: Timing of analgesic administration ...
Recommendations for the management of post-operative pain after surgical procedures
Recommendations It is difficult to make firm recommendations concerning which analgesics to use routinely, and how often to give them,...