Six dogs were presented to the University College Dublin Veterinary Hospital for either left or right lateral thoracotomy. After opioid premedication and induction of general anaesthesia, ultrasound-guided erector spinae plane (ESP) block with bupivacaine 0.5% (0.5 mL/kg) or bupivacaine 0.25% (1 mL/kg) was performed in all cases before the surgical procedure along with morphine (0.2 mg/kg) administered epidurally. This combination of local techniques was a successful adjunct to systemic analgesia in these six dogs undergoing lateral thoracotomy, reducing considerably the need for systemic opioids intra-and post-operatively. Ultrasound-guided ESP block with bupivacaine and epidurally administered morphine provided good multimodal intra-operative analgesia for dogs undergoing lateral thoracotomy. BACKGROUNDLateral thoracotomy is one of the most painful but commonly performed surgical procedure to manage diseases within the thoracic cavity in small animals. 1,2 In humans it is known that adequate intra-and post-operative analgesia is essential to allow for early mobilization and discharge and also to reduce the incidence of chronic neuropathic pain development. [3][4][5][6] In human and veterinary medicine, both systemic administration of opioids and locoregional anaesthesia have been used to manage intra-and post-operative pain after lateral thoracotomy. 3,7,8 The use of locoregional anaesthesia reduces systemic opioid requirement and provides analgesia without central respiratory depression or sedation, thus improving ventilation and allowing a more accurate clinical assessment of the patient. 9,10 Thoracic epidural catheter is the "gold standard" analgesic technique in humans, 11 and its effectiveness in providing analgesia in lateral thoracotomies has also been reported in veterinary medicine. 12,13 However, the technique itself and the epidural administration of local anaesthetics may have certain complications and contraindications. 12,14,15 In dogs, these can include mechanical or chemical injury of the spinal cord, motor function impairment, and sympathetic blockade leading to hypotension. 12 Vomiting has also beenThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Background: Hypotension is one of the most common complications observed during inhalation anaesthesia in veterinary patients. Treatment of hypotension in cattle is more challenging than in other species, owing to the limited number of drugs licensed in food producing animals. The use of adrenaline as an infusion to support blood pressure has not been described previously in bovines. Case presentation: A cow and a calf presented to University College Dublin Veterinary Hospital for bilateral mandibular fracture repair and bladder rupture repair respectively, developed severe anaesthetic related hypotension unresponsive to conventional treatments. In both cases an adrenaline infusion was started and slowly increased to effect, with infusion rates ranging from 0.01 to 0.25 μg/kg/min. Blood pressure increased as the adrenaline infusion rate increased, but clinically significant improvements in blood pressure were only observed with infusion rates exceeding 0.05 μg/kg/min. The side effect observed with adrenaline infusion was an increase in plasma lactate levels in both cases. Both animals were euthanised due to non-anaesthetic related complications. Conclusions: Maintenance of normotension is important during bovine anaesthesia to prevent the development of postanaesthetic complications. In the cases described here, adrenaline was effective as an additional treatment of anaesthetic related hypotension. Further research is required to establish the recommended infusion rates, cardiovascular effects and possible side effects of adrenaline infusion administration as a treatment for hypotension in bovines.

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Two young grey seals, from a seal rescue organisation, were presented to the University College Dublin Veterinary Hospital for unilateral eye enucleation. After premedication (pethidine-midazolam-atropine combination given intramuscularly), induction was performed with alfaxalone, and anaesthesia was maintained with alfaxalone total intravenous anaesthesia. During recovery, one of the seals developed severe bradycardia, apnoea and cardiac arrest resulting in death. The other recovered uneventfully after a short period of respiratory distress. Both seals had a suspected infectious pneumonia based on preoperative thoracic radiographs. This case report details the anaesthetic protocols used, the challenges presented to the anaesthetist by this species, and suggests that some complications could be potentially mitigated by more judicious use of anticholinergic agents. BACKGROUNDAnaesthesia in pinnipeds is challenging due to significant anatomical, physiological and behavioural variations compared with other species due to their adaptation to the aquatic life. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Mortality rates from 10% to 38% have been associated with profound sedation or general anaesthesia in these animals, 5,9-12 which far exceed the mortality rates reported in other veterinary species such as dogs (0.17%) or cats (0.24%). 13 Activation of the dive reflex (apnoea, bradycardia and vasoconstriction) has been identified as one of the main causes of anaesthetic-related death in seals. 2,8,12,[14][15][16] Anaesthesia in seals can present other specific difficulties. Seals have a thick blubber lining that can be up to 10 cm deep leading to potentially unreliable intramuscular (IM) injection. 17 The blubber layer is around 3.5 cm thick around the paralumbar musculature and it is the recommended site of injection using a 5-10 cm long spinal needle, depending on the size of the seal. 7,18 Intravenous (IV) cannulation can be challenging. 7,19 The superficial palmar, jugular, precaval, dorsal digital and saphenous veins can be catheterised by direct visualisation/palpation or with ultrasound guidance 18,19 , and the use of an epidural catheter to access the extradural venous sinus has also been reported in one seal. 20 Endotracheal intubation may also be difficult due to the large amount of peri-pharyngeal tissues and the long, flaccid soft palate. [4][5][6][7]16,21,22 Laryngospasm 14 and the incomplete tracheal rings, which allow the trachea to collapse during diving, can add to the challenge of intubation. [4][5][6][7]16,21,22 Due This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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