Anaesthesia in the field – preventing mishaps

Financial claims reported to the Veterinary Defence Society (VDS) involving horses lost through accidental injury or death while under anaesthesia are thankfully very rare. However, when they do occur they are very traumatic, not only for the owner, but for all the practice staff who were involved with the patient. Such mishaps can never be completely avoided, but the chances of something going wrong can be greatly reduced by careful planning in advance. (P***) poor planning makes for (P***) poor performance Non-anaesthetists are operating in the field, not in theatre, and by implication that means anaesthesia is intended to be of short duration and the surgery being performed is almost always performed on healthy patients. However, there are many ways in which things may go wrong and, if and when they do, this is usually in front of your client’s very eyes ...