27 – Exotic (Rabbit) Anesthesia Flashcards
Effects of size: difference to dogs and cats
- Higher metabolic rate, smaller reserves of glycogen PREDISPOSES to HYPOGLYCEMIA
- *higher oxygen consumption reduced tolerance to HYOXEMIA
- HYPOTHERMIA
Hypothermia: effects of size
- Higher body surface area to volume ratio
- Radiant heat loss: cover patient!
- Evaporative heat loss
o *Clip as minimal as necessary
o *minimize use of scrub and alcohol solution
Respiratory system of a rabbit
- Visualization of larynx is difficult
- Prone to laryngospasm
- Obligate nasal breathers
- Thoracic cavity: small, small tidal volume
- Clinical and subclinical respiratory disease
- Be careful with positioning!
o *large abdominal organs push against diaphragm
Digestive system of a rabbit
- Allow water up to premedication
- Can NOT vomit
- Fast rabbits for 1-2 hours
- Check for food in oral cavity: clean with cotton swabs
- Post operative ileus is common
- Encourage to eat in post-anesthetic period
What are the predisposing factors for post operative ileus in rabbits?
- Pain
- Starvation
- Stress
- Diet change
- Drugs
What do you need to consider for small mammal anesthesia?
- Accurate dosing of drugs
o Accurate body weight, dilate drugs if necessary, use appropriate syringe size - Anesthesia protocols
o DO NOT extrapolate from other species - Compression of thoracic cavity
o Hands, instruments, drapes
What is the blood volume of rabbits?
- 50-78mL/kg
o Less tolerance for hemorrhage
o One cotton tip applicator=0.17ml blood
o 4x4 gauze sponge=7ml blood
What are the anesthetic mortalities of rabbits?
- Overall risk: 1.39-4.8%
- Sick: 7.37%
- Post anesthetic: 64% mortality occurred
- Peri-anaesthetic GI complications: 38%
What increases the anesthetic risk?
- Stress (prey)
- Underlying disease
- Failure to address perioperative issues
- Lack of familiarity and expertise
- Increased risk of hypothermia (slows metabolism and delays recovery)
- *prolonged procedures: anesthesia time
How can you minimize stress in rabbits?
- Provide rabbit friendly environment
- Use premedication to reduce stress during induction
- Minimize handling
- Pain management
What are some underlying disease that can increase anesthetic risk?
- malnourishment and dehydration
- sub-clinical respiratory disease
- uterine carcinoma
Lack of familiarity and expertise that increases anesthetic risk
- size
- endotracheal intubation is technically DEMANDING
- fewer veins that are easily accessible for catheterization
- pain
What can be done to reduce anesthetic morbidity and mortality?
- Supportive care
Pre-operative blood tests
- Get an idea of PCV, total protein, glucose, BUN
- *glucose as a prognostic indicator for stress and clinical disease
How can you avoid disaster?
- Be prepared
- Know normal vital parameters
- Full clinical examination and history
- Consider pre-operative blood work
- Stabilize condition before anesthsia
- Don’t starve
- Accurate weight
- *always calculate dose for anesthetic agents, reversals and emergence drugs
What are the normal vital parameters of rabbits?
- HR: 200-300
- RR: 32-60
- T: 38.5-39.5
What are the patient specific complications in rabbits?
- Hypoglycemia, ileus
- Possible underlying subclinical disease
- Corneal ulcers
- Increased risk of hypothermia
- Injury (back fracture)
What are the 3 roles of premedication?
- Reduce stress during handling, induction and pre-oxygenation
- Anesthetic sparing
- Analgesia
What are some examples of premedication?
- Acepromazine
- Midazolam
- Dexmedetomidine
- Opioids
- Anticholinergic drugs
Acepromazine (pre-med)
- Long duration
- NOT reversible (prolonged recovery)
- Peak effect after 30-45mins
- Hypotension: peripheral alpha1 receptor blockage (vasodilation)
- *only use in healthy animals
- *don’t usually use in rabbits: long duration and prolongs recovery!
Midazolam (pre-med)
- WATER soluble, can be administered IM
- *Minimal cardiopulmonary effects
- Produces moderate SEDATION and MUSCLE RELAXATION
- *Reversal: Flumazenil
- *combine with opioid
- *good for rabbits and humans