Anesthesia

    Our service develops tailored anesthetic plans based on your pet’s needs, history, and physical exam, ensuring the safest and most effective approach.

    What We Do

    Our team comprises board-certified veterinary anesthesiologists, resident veterinarians, and skilled nurse anesthetists. Our service develops tailored anesthetic plans based on your pet’s needs, history, and physical exam, ensuring the safest and most effective approach. Our techniques, procedural sedation, and pain management provide the best outcomes for your pet. We also provide continuous monitoring during and after procedures, detailed instructions, and support once your pet is discharged.

    Our Services

    Types of Treatment

    For patients at Ryan Hospital, an assigned anesthetist will create a detailed anesthetic protocol designed specifically for your pet, based on their physical exam and history.

    Our Services

    Types of Treatment

    For patients at Ryan Hospital, an assigned anesthetist will create a detailed anesthetic protocol designed specifically for your pet, based on their physical exam and history.

    General Anesthesia

    When a patient is rendered unconscious through the injection of drugs and/or by inhaling an anesthetic gas. This also provides muscle relaxation and lack of pain perception, making it possible to perform surgery and other procedures.

    Possible complications include:

    • Respiratory depression
    • Low heart rate and low blood pressure
    • Adverse or allergic reactions to the anesthetic drugs
    • Equipment malfunction and infection. The possibility of these complications is higher in critically ill patients. At Penn Vet we make every effort to minimize these risks by tailoring the anesthetic protocol uniquely to the patient.

    Procedural Sedation

    When an animal is sedated for a diagnostic procedure or minor surgery. This technique is often integrated with locoregional anesthesia. Although sedation does carry similar risks as those for general anesthesia, it typically has less impact on the respiratory and cardiovascular system, and allows for faster recovery.

    Locoregional Anesthesia

    Locoregional anesthesia targets specific areas of the body. Two of the common locoregional techniques are peripheral nerve blocks and epidural/intrathecal injection.

    Peripheral Nerve Block:

    Local anesthetic is injected around the nerves that supply the target area of surgery, preventing pain sensation.

    Possible complications include:

    • Failure of the block
    • Adverse or allergic reactions to the drugs or drug toxicity
    • Hemorrhage
    • Infection
    • Rare complications of the nervous system which may lead to temporary or permanent paralysis.

    Epidural/Intrathecal Injection:

    A needle is placed between the vertebrae and medication is injected into the epidural or intrathecal space to provide regional anesthesia and/or pain relief.

    Possible complications include:

    • Failure of the injection
    • Adverse or allergic reactions to the drugs or drug toxicity
    • Low blood pressure
    • Reactions
    • Hemorrhage
    • Infection
    • Rare complications of the nervous system which may lead to temporary or permanent paralysis, urinary retention, pruritus (itchiness); slow regrowth of hair over the injection site.

    If your pet is getting any diagnostics or procedures that require sedation or anesthesia, please follow any instructions and inform staff of any known allergies to medications, serious illnesses, or complications with previous anesthesia.

    When the procedure is finished, your pet will be transferred and further monitored in a recovery area, and we will administer medications as needed. When your pet is discharged, you will notice multiple patches of clipped hair. These allow us to perform injections, place catheters, and attach monitoring devices. If your pet has any bandages present at the time of discharge, please be sure to discuss their timely removal with the attending veterinarian or veterinary nurse.

    Our Care Team

    Giacomo Gianotti, head of Anesthesia

    Head of Anesthesia

    Giacomo Gianotti, DVM, DVSc, DACVAA

    Associate Professor of Clinical Anesthesia

    Veterinarians

    Residents

    Jaden Corell

    Jaden Corell, DVM

    Ismar Lutvikadic

    Ismar Lutvikadic, DVM

    Allison Mika

    Allison Mika, VMD

    Miranda Starr

    Miranda Starr, VMD

    Melissa Allen, CVT
    Anesthesia Assistant Nursing Supervisor

    Casey Bacon, CVT
    Anesthesia Scheduler

    David Brown, CVT

    Robert Cantagallo, CVT

    Carly Carpenter, CVT, VTS
    (Anesthesia & Analgesia)

    Amy Dowling, CVT, VTS
    Anesthesia Assistant Nursing Supervisor

    Caroline Fitch

    Julie Hirsch, CVT, VTS ECC

    Brooke Karpovich, CVT

    Marintha Kimport, CVT

    Jena King, CVT

    Mary Lyle CVT,

    Shannon McMahon, CVT

    Michelle Pantelis, LVT

    Lithza Miranda CVT,

    Brogan Mills CVT,

    Lila Sierra CVT, VTS
    (ECC)

    Dominque Tirado
    Veterinary Nurse Assistant RITZ

    Kim Vargas, CVT

    Elizabeth Waters CVT

    Lauren Anderson
    Assistant

    Applications are Invited for a Residency in Small and Large Animal Anesthesia & Analgesia

    The residency in veterinary anesthesia is a three-year program aimed at developing the clinical and technical skills required for administering anesthesia, perioperative patient care, sedation, and pain management to a wide variety of species with diverse medical conditions. The training is designed specifically to fulfill the requirements for Board qualification set forth by the American College of Veterinary Anesthesia & Analgesia (ACVAA), which may be reviewed on the ACVAA website at www.acvaa.org. A detailed Anesthesia Residency Program guide is available upon e-mail request to the program director listed below.

    The Anesthesia Residency Program provides the resident with anesthesia experience in a broad variety of species. Small animal and exotic species experience is gained at the Ryan Veterinary Hospital at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, a very busy hospital with a large (> 5000 animals anesthetized annually) and varied caseload. It is located in West Philadelphia at the heart of the main campus of the University of Pennsylvania, which includes the Medical School and its University Hospital, allowing for close interactions with the School of Medicine. During the first two months of the training program, the resident will attend an introductory class in anesthesiology given to the MD residents of the Department of Anesthesiology.

    Large animal anesthesia training occurs at the New Bolton Center Hospital for Large Animals, located approximately 35 miles West of Philadelphia in rural Pennsylvania. The Large Animal Anesthesia Service anesthetizes an average of 1,500 cases per year, predominantly equine, but also including farm animals, wildlife, and zoo species. Exotic, wildlife, and zoo animals are also anesthetized at the Philadelphia Zoo, the Brandywine Zoo in Wilmington, Delaware, and occasionally at other sites.

    The anesthesia resident is offered a broad spectrum of didactic teaching classes, seminars, and rounds, as well as clinical opportunities, to develop thorough knowledge and skills in the anesthetic, pain, and perioperative intensive care management of a wide variety of animal patients.

    Currently, the anesthesia faculty consists of eight ACVAA or ECVAA board-certified anesthesiologists, four at each facility, all actively involved in the training program. The resident will spend approximately equal time at each facility and is expected to participate in on-call duties at both the small and large animal hospitals.

    • Dates of Program: July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2029
    • Available positions: One
    • Salary: $40,000 (Year One)
    • Closing date for applications: February 1, 2026

    Qualifying applicants must have graduated from veterinary school (i.e., received a DVM, VMD, or equivalent degree) and completed a one-year rotating internship or equivalent clinical experience (i.e., at least one year of clinical practice in veterinary medicine following graduation).

    The application must include:
    (a) A letter of intent indicating the reasons for seeking this program and professional career goals
    (b) Current résumé or curriculum vitae
    (c) Transcript of university performance
    (d) A list of three persons (including full addresses and phone/fax/e-mail information) knowledgeable about the applicant’s veterinary school performance, clinical training, and subsequent experiences, and willing to provide a letter of reference.

    Currently, only applications from candidates fulfilling the following employment requirements can be considered:

    • U.S. Citizenship
    • U.S. Permanent Resident Status
    • Canadian Citizenship
    • Canadian Permanent Resident Status
    • Mexican Citizenship
    • Mexican Permanent Resident Status

    An interview is strongly recommended to familiarize applicants with the program.

    Questions regarding the position and application materials can be sent to Dr. Bernd Driessen, the Anesthesia Resident Program Director at driessen@vet.upenn.edu.

    Ryan Veterinary Hospital

    Emergencies:
    (215) 746-8911

    By Appointment:
    (215) 746-8387