Maintenance of anaesthesia Flashcards
When can you intubate?
Sufficient depth of anaesthesia (eyes rotate ventrally, minimal/sluggish palpebral reflex, loose jaw tone, no swallowing reflex on stimulation) –> Pull tongue out –> laryngoscope on tongue (don’t touch epiglottis or larynx) –> visualise laryngeal opening –> LA and lubricaton
How do you measure an ETT?
measure to point of shoulder
What are problems with ETTs? 5
- Occlusions at end - prevented by murphy’s eye
- Endobronchial intubation
- Mucus in tube (occulsion and infection)
- Compression of inside of tube
- Stretching of tracheal wall
Special considerations - cats and ETTs
spray larynx with local anaesthetic (desensitises and reduces laryngospasm). Use intubeaze (lidocaine spray)
List 2 alternatives to ETT in cats
V-gel
Laryngeal mask
T/F- mist anaesthetics don’t provide analgesia
True (one exception = ketamine). (Analgesia is still required even though patient is unconscious to prevent upregulation of pain processing pathways_.
How can anaesthesia be maintained? 4
Inhalational
Intravenous
Combination (injectional and inhalational)
Single IM injection (occasionally)
Define PIVA
Partial IntraVenous Anaesthesia
List 4 injectable maintenance anaesthetics
Best for TIVA:
Propofol
Alfaxalone
Accumulate so not good for CRI, use for intermittent:
Ketamine
Thiopental
List 6 inhalational maintenance anaesthetics
Isoflurane Sevoflurane Halothane Desflurane NO2 Xenon
Outline intravenous maintenance
TIVA = total intravenous anaesthesia
Intermittent boluses or continuous rate infusion (CRI)
Advantages of intermittent bolus/CRI for maintaining anaesthesia
INTERMITTENT: simpler, less equipment, swinging plane of anaesthesia
CRI: target controlled infusion (TCI) possible, minimum infusion rate (MIR)
How are inhalational agents metabolised?
Administered and removed from body via lungs (except halothane - liver.
Redistributed to brain and other tissues
How does fat solubility affect inhalational agents?
Fat solubility may slow recovery from a long anaesthetic (think vessel rich vs. vessel poor tissues)
What factors affect inhalational agent uptake? 2
- Pressure gradient from vaporiser to brain
- Brain concentration approximates alveolar concentration