Sandra Robbins, BS, CVT, VTS (anesthesia)

We already know that the way we each perceive pain will be different depending on our past experiences. The way we respond to that pain also varies from person to person. These two points make recognizing and treating pain difficult, especially in regards to our veterinary patients.

There are a wide variety of pain management techniques. I hope to cover a few here. Some of the different areas we will cover are injectable analgesia, epidurals, wound soaker catheters, local blocks, NSAIDs, and alternative methods. Each group will be expanded upon, with specific examples.

The biggest concern with all exotic animals under anesthesia is hypothermia. Other main concerns include airway access, intravenous access, pain management, and hemorrhage.

Due to the fact that critical patients are more fragile than stabile patients, they require special nursing care. The same is true of these special patients under anesthesia.

Monitoring, for these purposes will consist of checking vitals on a regular basis. The vitals being monitored may be changed based upon the patient's status and the procedure performed. By watching for changes in trends we are able to catch and potentially stop a crisis from happening..