Anaesthesia of Exotics Flashcards
Describe the physiology of rabbits that should be taken into account during anaesthesia
- HR is less reliable indicator of anaesthetic depth and pain
- Obligate nasal breathers so care with airway obstruction
- lose body heat easily
- small tidal volume so care with IPPV
- gas-filled GIT can put pressure on lungs
How can we avoid problems in rabbits?
- Position with chest elevated and no pressure on chest
- pre-oxygenate
- Taking a full history
- Thorough pre-op check and diagnostics
- Delay procedure if animal in less than perfect health
- Intubate with V-gel if possible
- Prioritise on ops list and send home early
- Use low resistance, non-rebreathing, short tubing circuit and short ET tube
How can we monitor rabbits under anaesthesia?
- RR and pattern more reliable
- Monitor hydration status
- keep a hand on the rabbit at all times
- femoral pulse, pinna artery pulse points
Describe what you should do in the recovery of a rabbit
- Syringe feed asap
- prevent hypothermia
- ensures nares are clear
- extubate when tongue moving and jaw tone returns (must be about to stay in sternal and lift head)
- home asap
Describe some problems we may encounter with reptile anaesthesia
- cannot regulate their own body temperature (we need to keep them in their preferred optimum temperature zone
- can vomit/regurgitate so should fast
- don’t take inhalational agents in as efficiently as mammals due to simple lungs
- Some can survive without o2 for long time, some can switch to anaerobic respiration.
- Lack of o2 is what triggers them to breathe so if we supply them with 100% o2 we can cause them to breath-hold (NEED IPPV)
What can we do to prepare reptiles for anaesthesia?
Pre-warm
Fasting - Snake (2 days), Lizards (24hrs), Chelonia (30m-1hr)
What ET tube should be used in reptiles mostly?
Uncuffed cooks ET tube
If it is hard to auscultate a reptilian HR during anaesthesia, what can we use to do this?
Doppler probe or peripheral pulse
What can be used to temporarily immobilise a snake for radiography?
Vaso-vagal reflex
-gently apply pressure to the snake’s eyelids for 1-2minutes
This increases PNS activity and lowers HR and BP
How can we assess anaesthetic depth in a snake?
Bauch-streich reflex
- stroking the ventral scales should provoke a wiggle
Describe the recovery of a reptile
- it will be slow due to their slow metabolism
- their environment should be dark and quiet
- they should be maintained in their POTZ
What should we consider when anaesthetising birds?
- Very susceptible to stress, pain and handling
- Can absorb 10 X more O2 due to air sacs
- Use an uncuffed cooks ET tube
- Can regurgitate so should be fasted
- Should be fed during recovery within an hour of surgery
