Four Simple Tips for Improved Veterinary Anesthesia for Technicians and Their Teams

A veterinary anesthesia technician is a critical part of the veterinary team at any clinic. Veterinary anesthesia is simultaneously one of the most complex as well as one of the most common procedures done in a general practice setting. It can be stressful for many veterinary teams and if veterinary anesthesia is performed without a solid plan in place it can rapidly become disorganized, frustrating, and even dangerous for patients. Read below  four tips to help your veterinary team tackle anesthesia in a safer, more proactive way. 

Have Intravenous Access Whenever Possible 

 Veterinary clinic teams frequently try to save time during surgical and anesthetic procedures by skipping intravenous catheters for routine surgeries. Many veterinary technician anesthetists place peripheral IV catheters too infrequently to be efficient at them, although they have all been trained to perform this task. Often, thoughts surface of it being too difficult, too time consuming, and generally unnecessary when anesthetic caseload is high.  

 The hardest time to try to place an IV catheter is when a patient is actively destabilizing. Although a skilled veterinary technician anesthetist can often place a catheter in an emergency, having intravenous access prior to a crisis will save time, stress, and may mean the difference between life and death for your patients. The ability to rapidly administer medications intravenously can not only save a pet’s life during an emergency, but can provide a rapid way to improve blood pressure, tissue perfusion, and lead to faster recovery.  

Practice makes perfect, so the more frequently you put in peripheral IV catheters, the more efficient you become. Young, healthy pets are an excellent opportunity to refine your catheter placing skills, get practice securing them to the patient, and may just save your patient’s life.  

Understand the Functions of Your Anesthesia Medications 

 Pharmacokinetics is a word that gives many veterinary team members headaches, if not uncomfortable flashbacks to long hours learning intricate molecular structures and functions. But the general function of the most commonly used anesthetic and pre-anesthetic medications should be known and understood by everyone performing anesthesia. This allows the safest medications to be chosen for each patient and a more finely tailored anesthetic plan leads to improved patient outcomes.  

 For example, you may not need to understand exactly how alpha-2 agonists, such as dexmedetomidine2, function at the cellular level. However, you should know that it leads to a transient rise in blood pressure (due to vasoconstriction) and a reflex bradycardia, decreased cardiac output, and increased afterload. This may lead you to avoid using this particular medication in dogs with known heart disease, kidney disease, or other comorbidities.    

 A functional understanding of the medications you administer, what predicted effects are common, how to combat those side effects, and how and when to use reversal medications, if available, can improve your comfort with veterinary technician-provided anesthesia, make the procedure safer for your patients, and have a better plan in place when things go wrong.  

Get Good at the Basics – The Pre-Anesthetic Examination 

 A good physical examination is the single most important part of the anesthetic plan. One 2008 study showed that pre-anesthetic blood work does not often change an anesthetic plan. In fact, thoracic auscultation, pulse quality, mucous membrane color, and patient history are more likely to detect a potential problem. This information, along with an understanding of the predicted effects of certain medications will prevent more anesthetic crises than many other diagnostic tests. This is why a full, accurate pre-anesthetic examination is vitally important to every anesthesia patient.  

Even if your patient is young and otherwise healthy, vet techs and veterinarians should do a complete physical examination prior to anesthesia. You may catch a previously unrecognized heart murmur or a potential breathing issue. If no abnormalities are noted, then use the opportunity to practice, improving your efficiency and confidence in performing physical examinations. The more often you perform a normal examination, the more likely you are to notice an abnormal one. 

Write an SOP – And Use It 

 A written Standard Operating Plan (SOP) for all veterinary anesthetic patients is one of the most important tools for a veterinary anesthetic team to have. Exactly what goes into an SOP is up to each individual team, but it should function to decrease inter-teammate variation in procedures, from pre-anesthesia to discharge. 

 An SOP may include individual team member responsibilities, such as who performs pre-anesthetic examinations, who is responsible for administering medications, and who is responsible for monitoring anesthesia. Knowing each person’s responsibility ensures no step is missed.  

 Another common function of an SOP involves the keeping of accurate records. A plan for which vital parameters are measured and how often they are recorded may mean that problems are identified as early as possible so appropriate intervention can be taken. If different monitoring equipment is used depending on the surgical procedure performed, this can be noted and planned out in an SOP.  

 Post-operative monitoring is an important step in any SOP. How often patients are checked and what parameters are examined can be easily defined to ensure patients are recovering well. Other important considerations in the post-operative period can also be described, such as the recovery location of patients after specific procedures, medications to be administered, and bandages to be checked or changed.  

Bonus Tip: Expand Your Knowledge and Confidence with an Online Veterinary Technician Certificate in Anesthesia 

 If your clinic regularly uses veterinary anesthetics, consider further training for a member of the team. Improve Veterinary Education provides a RACE-approved veterinary technician certificate in anesthesia that can improve clinical skills and confidence in patient care before, during, and after anesthesia while achieving an internationally recognized certificate. Subjects covered range from CPCR to fluid therapy to analgesia in multiple species. The program is completely online, but includes case reports, interactive modules, and self-assessment, enabling greater learning. By training  to be a certified anesthesia technician, you can enhance your patient care, as well as achieve your career goals. 

Conclusion 

Vet techs are often involved in maintenance and monitoring of anesthesia. For the veterinary team and the animals under their care, proper training of veterinary technicians in anesthesia techniques is essential. A veterinary technician certificate in anesthesia can improve patient outcomes and help the whole team to thrive. 

Works Cited 

1. Alef M, von Praun F, Oechtering G. Is routine pre-anaesthetic haematological and biochemical screening justified in dogs? Vet Anaesth Analg 2008; 35:132-140. 

1. Teixeira Neto, Francisco José. Dexmedetomidine: A New Alpha-2 Agonist for Small Animal Practice. World Small Animal Veterinary Association World Congress Proceedings, 2009. https://www.vin.com/apputil/content/defaultadv1.aspx?pId=11290&sterm=&schecked=DOC4252628