For Veterinary Surgeons
Specialist Referral Services
Anaesthesia
The Anaesthesia service is headed by Federico (Freddie)
Corletto.
Freddie is supported by Enzo Vettorato (Anaesthesia Consultant),
Francesco Aprea and Chiara De Gennaro (Anaesthesia Residents),
Richard Eastwood (Anaesthesia Technician) and 4 highly qualified
and experienced veterinary nurses.
Our aim is to provide the highest standard of anaesthesia,
analgesia and perioperative care in small animals. In order to
achieve this, we use modern anaesthetic machines and monitoring
equipment and the most up to date anaesthetic techniques available,
including the implementation of anaesthetic techniques used in
human medicine. Our aim is always to minimise pain and stress in
hospitalised patients and pets undergoing surgery. We believe that
this is an important contributing factor to an early discharge and
more successful outcome.
Each patient is assessed individually and a tailored anaesthetic
protocol is developed according to the procedure, the temperament
of the animal, and the expected amount of pain experienced. Low
flow inhalational anaesthesia is mostly used in combination with
administration of short acting opioids, with total intravenous
anaesthesia used in selected cases (brain surgery, sedation in
intensive care, tracheoscopy/bronchoscopy, some thoracic
surgeries). The availability of complete physiological monitoring
(cardiovascular and respiratory) allows us to titrate
administration of anaesthetic drugs to the needs of each patient,
optimising cardiorespiratory performance and minimising nociception
during the procedure.
Use of locoregional anaesthetic techniques (intrathecal and
epidural anaesthesia, nerve stimulator guided peripheral and
paravertebral nerve blocks) is a fundamental part of our daily
activity, and allows a significant reduction of perioperative use
of opiooids, resulting in less sedation and cardiovascular
depression after surgery. Locoregional anaesthesia is used in
nearly all orthopaedic procedures, thoracotomies, maxillofacial
surgery and caudal abdominal surgery. We are actively contributing
to the development and refinement of locoregional anaesthetic
techniques in small animal veterinary medicine.
After surgery, analgesia is assessed every 2 hours initially,
and subsequently every 4 hours, if appropriate. Analgesic drugs are
administered according to the pain experienced by the animal,
assessed with a validated pain scoring system. It is important to
stress that administration of drugs based on a pain scoring system
does not imply that the drug is administered when the animal is
experiencing a considerable amount of pain. Our experience suggests
that post operative analgesic requirements are highly variable in
dogs and cats, similar to the situation in people. Routine
administration of opioids at regular intervals probably results in
a relative overdose in some patients, and breakthrough pain in
others. Good intraoperative analgesia reduces postoperative pain
dramatically, and this is more consistent when using locoregional
techniques compared to systemic administration of analgesics. If
you are interested in possible ways of changing perioperative pain
management in your practice, please do not hesitate to contact us,
or arrange to attend one of our CPD courses.
We work closely with our colleagues in other disciplines in
order to provide the best patient care, in particular regarding
analgesic management and support of critically ill patients. If
necessary, we have the facilities and the expertise to manage
ventilatory support in patients with respiratory failure.
For further information about our Anaesthesia service, to
discuss a case or to obtain advice on any anaesthesia-related
subject, please contact Federico Corletto.