Anaesthesia

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This course aims to refresh and enhance your foundational knowledge and skills in anaesthesia, which is a vital component of companion animal care. It covers essential topics, including basic concepts, sedation, general anaesthesia, anaesthetic equipment, the anaesthetic procedure, monitoring and complications, pain assessment, and postoperative analgesia.   

By completing this module, you will gain confidence in assessing anaesthetic candidates, managing anaesthetic procedures independently, troubleshooting, and providing post-anaesthetic care. Client education around this topic will also become more straightforward, fostering improved client relationships. You will acquire the necessary tools to deliver high-quality care while staying up-to-date with best practices in veterinary anaesthesia, allowing you to effectively meet your patients’ needs and enjoy your procedural caseload.

Why do an anaesthesia module?

  • Ensuring animal safety
  • Understanding anaesthetic agents
  • Managing anaesthetic complications
  • Improving pre- and post-anaesthesia care
  • Mastering monitoring techniques
  • Reducing the risk of human error
  • Building client trust
  • Increasing career confidence
  • Staying current with best practices
  • Ethical and legal responsibility

Topics

  • Basic concepts
  • Sedation and general anaesthesia
  • Anaesthetic equipment
  • The anaesthetic procedure - overview
  • Anaesthetic monitoring and complications
  • Pain assessment and postoperative analgesia

Learning objectives

  • Define the triad of general anaesthesia.
  • Define balanced anaesthesia.
  • Describe functions of anaesthesia machine and breathing system.
  • Be familiar with common problems associated with endotracheal intubation.
  • Be familiar with the ASA scoring system.
  • Be familiar with the main group of drugs, their effects, side effects and contra-indications.
  • Discuss factors affecting choice of anaesthetic breathing system.
  • Discuss different starvation protocols and their implications.
  • Discuss and recognise characteristics of patient assessment that have implications on drug protocol to be utilised.
  • List the aims of premedication.
  • Discuss factors affecting selection of premedication protocol.
  • Discuss general pharmacology, effects, and side effects of different opioids.

Contributors

Joana Chagas BVSc DiplACVAA