At Penn Vet, veterinary anesthesiology has followed human medicine with regard to providing the safest possible anesthetics, assisted ventilation and oxygen delivery, and constant monitoring and support of vital status.
Education in pharmacology, cardiovascular physiology, pain management, and other relevant fields is provided on a continual basis for staff members.
Clinical Responsibilities
Staff members are responsible for administering anesthesia, monitoring vital functions such as heart rate and rhythm (via ECG), blood pressure (through direct and/or indirect devices), respiratory functions (via pulse oximetry blood gas analysis, and end-tidal CO2 recordings), and cardiac output.
They also monitor carefully anesthetic depth and measure concentrations of anesthetic gases administered, and assist the animals during the recovery from anesthesia.
Equipment
For all these tasks, state-of-the art anesthesia equipment and monitors are being used. In addition, New Bolton Center's Hospital is equipped with an unique pool raft recovery system that facilitates recovery of horses from general anesthesia and helps minimizing any self-inflicted injuries during the post-anesthetic wake-up period.
Types of Patients
Our case load is varied, from healthy animals for routine procedures to patients undergoing complex colic or other soft-tissue as well as fracture-repair surgery.
Patients include:
- Horses
- Ruminants
- Pigs
- Camelids
- Zoo and wildlife animals
From evaluation and handling of the patient prior to the procedure, to ensuring optimal anesthetic and pain management throughout the procedure and post-operatively, delivering anesthesia safely to such a variety of species provides an exciting challenge. Providing comfort and quality pain management to the patient throughout the process is extremely rewarding.