General anesthesia results in a loss of consciousness and loss of sensation throughout the body. Most general anesthetic procedures involve several steps, beginning with the administration of a tranqulizer/sedative, followed by an intravenous anesthetic injection. When the animal becomes fully unconscious, a breathing tube is placed into the trachea. Gas anesthesia is delivered in combination with oxygen via the endotracheal tube to maintain the level of unconsciousness necessary to perform the procedure.
Although general anesthetics have grown significantly safer over the years, there is still rare anesthetic complications. There are many ways to reduce the risk associated with anesthesia including a thorough pre-anesthetic physical exam and bloodwork. During each procedure, we monitor as many vital parameters as possible using equipment such as ECG, esophageal stethoscope, pulse oximeter and blood pressure monitor. We take every anesthetic procedure seriously from start to finish!
