While most surgery is uneventful, emergencies rarely arise. Early detection of impending problems greatly aids our ability to intervene and correct the problem. An IV catheter will be placed prior to anesthesia induction. The IV catheter is our port for providing emergency drugs if there is an emergency. Having a catheter pre-placed is one of the most important procedures for safety. During anesthesia IV fluids will be administered to help maintain blood pressure, provide internal organ support and to help keep your pet from becoming dehydrated. During anesthesia, fluids are administered through specialized fluid pumps to give precise amounts of fluids. Warm air blankets (Bair huggers) keep our patients warm during anesthesia and speed recovery. A preanesthesia blood test can detect for hidden problems that could cause serious complications when the pet is under anesthesia or in surgery.

During the procedure your pet will be monitored in several ways. One of the best monitors is the surgeon because he is literally visualizing the blood in the circulatory system. Any change in the blood is readily noticed because pets that are breathing 100% oxygen should have bright red blood.

Also, we have an anesthetist nurse in the room monitoring anesthesia. She monitors oxygen flow and anesthetic settings on the precision vaporizer, along with heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, heart rhythm, blood pressure, and temperature. During anesthesia several monitors are used to track our patients’ vital signs. An EKG records electrical activity of the heart. A Pulse-Oximeter monitors oxygen content of the blood and heart rate. An Apnea Monitor tracks respiration rate.

Veterinary Vital Signs Monitor

Our state of the art vital signs monitor allows the Veterinarians and technicians to evaluate your pet’s vital organs. By monitoring for important parameters we are able to predict problems before they can begin. This monitor allows us to evaluate heart rate, hearth rhythm (EKG), oxygen saturation (Pulse Oximetry), temperature, respiration rate. In addition, we have a EKG printer to document abnormal rhythms if they develop. This state of the art monitor allows us to run a very successful anesthesia program.

Our anesthetist technician also uses an esophageal stethoscope to listen to the heart. This sensitive instrument is passed into your pet's esophagus while under anesthesia and placed right at the level of the heart, thus greatly enhancing our ability to hear the heart and detect any problems.

The pulse oximeter is an instrument that measures the oxygen saturation of you pet's red blood cells (to be more specific, its hemoglobin). It is an extremely sensitive instrument that gives us an indication of problems that may be arising long before your pet suffers any ill effects. In addition to measuring oxygen saturation, it measures heart rate, pulse character, and respiration. We have 2 pulse oximeters in our hospital.

This instrument does its magic by measuring the hemoglobin that is oxygenated and comparing it to the hemoglobin that is not oxygenated. It does this by shining a light on an artery, and then measures how much of this light is absorbed. It gives us an answer in PaO2- the partial atmospheric pressure of oxygen

This pulse oximeter shows a pet with an oxygen saturation of 94%, a heart rate of 157. It is breathing 27 times per minute, and its heart rate is steady. The pulse oximeter has several different types of sensors that can be attached in various locations depending on the procedure being performed.The pulse oximeter can also be used on pets that are not anesthetized. It is useful for pets that are having difficulty breathing (dyspnea) from many different causes. It is also used to monitor pets that are in a state of shock. One of the most common reasons for pets to be presented to us in a state of shock is from trauma, especially being hit by a car (HBC).

The esophageal stethoscope and the pulse oximeter can be used simultaneously.

To complement these high tech methods of monitoring, our anesthetist technician uses several hands-on techniques as a backup. One of the easiest of these is called capillary refill time (CRT). By pressing on the mucous membranes in the mouth, and noting how long it takes for the blanched area to turn pink again, we get a basic assessment of your pets cardiovascular status. A normal pet's pink color returns within 2 seconds. This technique is used in other situations besides anesthetic monitoring. It is especially helpful when a pet is in shock or is dehydrated.