AAFP Feline Anesthesia Guidelines

Abstract

The overarching purpose of the AAFP Anesthesia Guidelines (hereafter referred to as the 'Guidelines') is to make anesthesia and sedation safer for the feline patient. Scope and accessibility: It is noteworthy that these are the first exclusively feline anesthesia guidelines authored by an expert panel, making them particularly useful as an extensively referenced, practical resource for veterinary practice teams. Because much of the key content is presented in tabular or visual format, the Guidelines have a high level of accessibility and convenience that invites regular usage. While the recommendations in the Guidelines focus primarily on client-owned cats, the content is also applicable to community-sourced animals with an unknown medical history.

Review of different methods used for clinical recognition and assessment of pain in dogs and cats

“…When animals feel pain, the physiological parameters (heart rate, respiratory rate, pupillary diameter and blood pressure) can be altered as an autonomic response to nociception. However, these parameters are affected by many factors, including fear and stress [42,43], so one single physiological parameter is not a reliable tool for assessing pain precisely [39], though some authors recommend taking them as a basis for recognizing this process [23,44]. In the case of animals that suffer chronic pain, however, these variations tend to be less evident [19].…”

Management of veterinary anaesthesia in small animals: A survey of current practice in Quebec

“…Overall, the way anaesthesia is performed by most respondents does not meet the published criteria, at the time of the study. Additionally, guidelines published more recently [13,18] tend to be similar to those published earlier to which the respondents still do not meet.…”

“…Placing an intravenous catheter provides venous access for administration of emergency drugs. Intravenous administration of fluids is not widely used, even though it participates in the management of fluid balance and facilitates the elimination of anaesthetic drugs, both of which are important during short or long procedure [13,14,18,29], especially considering the withholding time of food and water reported in this survey.…”

“…Regarding monitoring, a majority of practices do not use any anaesthetic record and monitoring equipment available during anaesthesia varies between practices. Guidelines [13,14,18] and textbooks [11,29] recommend using individualised protocols and monitoring, in order to decrease the veterinarian liability in case of litigation. Additionally, the Ordre des Médecins Vétérinaires du Québec requires the systematic use of an anaesthesia record in Quebec practice.…”

Felines Asthma und chronische Bronchitis – Übersicht zu Diagnostik und Therapie

“…Alle Patienten mit respiratorischen Erkrankungen sollten vor Einleitung der Narkose und in der Aufwachphase mindestens 5 Minuten mit 100 % Sauerstoff oxygeniert werden. Die Pulsoxymetrie ist zwingend erforderlich, wenn möglich sollte sie durch eine Kapnometrie ergänzt werden [47] [49]. Da die meisten Konnektoren für die Bronchoskopie keine komplette Abdichtung des Atmungssystems gewährleisten, kommt es zu einer Kontamination des Personals mit Inhalationsanästhetika, weshalb eine TIVA (total intravenöse Anästhesie) zu bevorzugen ist.…”