AAHA Anesthesia Guidelines for Dogs and Cats*

Abstract

Safe and effective anesthesia of dogs and cats rely on preanesthetic patient assessment and preparation. Patients should be premedicated with drugs that provide sedation and analgesia prior to anesthetic induction with drugs that allow endotracheal intubation. Maintenance is typically with a volatile anesthetic such as isoflurane or sevoflurane delivered via an endotracheal tube. In addition, local anesthetic nerve blocks; epidural administration of opioids; and constant rate infusions of lidocaine, ketamine, and opioids are useful to enhance analgesia. Cardiovascular, respiratory, and central nervous system functions are continuously monitored so that anesthetic depth can be modified as needed. Emergency drugs and equipment, as well as an action plan for their use, should be available throughout the perianesthetic period. Additionally, intravenous access and crystalloid or colloids are administered to maintain circulating blood volume. Someone trained in the detection of recovery abnormalities should monitor patients throughout recovery. Postoperatively attention is given to body temperature, level of sedation, and appropriate analgesia.

Effects of the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues exenatide, exenatide extended-release, and of the dipeptidylpeptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitor sitagliptin on glucose metabolism in healthy cats

“…Jugular catheters were placed by Seldinger technique under general anaesthesia on each day of meal response testing (Seldinger, 1953). The animals were fasted overnight (from 06:00 pm on the evening prior to MRT) to ensure a minimal risk of aspiration of gastric contents during anaesthesia for jugular catheter placement, according to AAHA Anesthesia Guidelines for Dogs and Cats (Bednarski et al, 2011). To insert the catheter, sedation was obtained with intramuscular butorphanol (Morphasol ® -4, Dr. E. Graeub AG, Bern, Switzerland) at 2 mg/kg and the α2-adrenoceptor agonist medetomidine (Domitor ® , ProVet AG, Lyssach, Switzerland) at 5 μg/kg, and general anaesthesia was maintained with intravenous propofol (Propofol 1% MTC Fresenius, Fresenius Kabi AG, Bad Homburg, Germany) at 6-8 mg/kg.…”

Interaction Between Phenylbutazone and Thiopental Sodium in Female Stray Dogs: The Effect on the Recovery from Anesthesia

“…Anesthesiaisan important subject in veterinary medicine and is used for a wide range of circumstances in animals due to animals' unwillingness to cooperate with certain diagnostic or therapeutic procedures [1] . Amonganimals, cats and dogs are frequently anesthetized for surgical procedures [1] .…”

Usefulness of a general anesthesia protocol and work organization in mass castration and sterilization programs for dogs and cats

“…This fact shows that doctors of veterinary medicine can greatly influence the safety of their patients. One should not only choose the right anesthetic protocol, but also closely monitor the anesthetized patient and correctly respond to any problems that may arise during surgery (2). According to the United States Association of Shelter Veterinarians' Standards, the most important elements of patient safety during surgery are fluid therapy, preventing body temperature decrease (animals with reduced body heat take longer to recover due to the slower metabolism of drugs (9)), and the proper monitoring of the patient during the induction phase of anesthesia and under sedation (12).…”