Common anesthesia considerations in pets with endocrine disease

Anesthesia is alway serious business, but when it comes to patients with endocrine disease, Fetch dvm360 conference speaker Mike Barletta, DVM, MS, PhD, DACVAA, says they need extra considerations. Even more than the drugs, he says to focus on these factors.

Stabilize

Dr. Barletta says to take special care of disease considerations prior to administering anesthesia.

"It's way better to take care of the endocrine disease before we put them under general anesthesia," he says.

Monitor

Keep an eye out for things that could hint at trouble, Dr. Barletta says. These include blood pressure and heart rate-key indicators that something could be going astray.

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Watch fluids

Many endocrine patients will be on fluid therapy, so this too should be watched very closely.

"These patients are on fluids-how much are we giving? It's very important depending on the disease," Dr. Barletta says.

Think about the disease

He notes that specific diseases will have specific considerations. Is the dog diabetic? Be sure to monitor blood glucose levels closely, he says.

Watch the video for more.

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