In the world of veterinary medicine, balanced anesthesia plays a pivotal role. It employs a single drug or a drug cocktail to facilitate functions like hypnosis, analgesia, and muscle relaxation. This is especially critical for our feline and canine patients where the best anesthetic protocol minimizes risks and ensures the anesthesia doesn't wear off prematurely.
Total Intravenous Anesthesia (TIVA) and Partial IV Anesthesia (PIVA)
TIVA merges IV anesthetic and analgesic drugs to maintain anesthesia. PIVA, on the other hand, administers a low dosage of the primary general anesthetic, mitigating potential side effects while ensuring high-quality anesthesia for our furry friends.
Benefits of IV Anesthetic Techniques: TIVA and PIVA
Both TIVA and PIVA are beneficial in everyday veterinary practice. They offer:
1. Excellent analgesia and steady anesthesia: These techniques provide superior hemodynamic stability and potent anesthetic-sparing capabilities. They ensure stable plasma concentrations and an accurate level of anesthesia and analgesia throughout the procedure.
2. Convenience: TIVA is ideal when inhalation anesthesia administration facilities aren't available.
3. Smooth recovery: Postoperative recovery is smoother with these techniques. They provide sedation and analgesia, facilitating a controlled and milder emergence from general anesthesia into recovery.
4. Eco-friendly: Using TIVA reduces personnel exposure and environmental pollution from the inhalant agent.
5. Enhanced patient recovery: Studies show that TIVA and PIVA-linked anesthesia provide equivalent or better recovery times post-anesthesia, reduce nausea and vomiting post-anesthesia.
Challenges with IV Anesthetic Techniques
Despite their advantages, TIVA and PIVA have their challenges. These include potential respiratory depression in TIVA, the necessity for personal training, the complexity of inhalation agents, and initial adjustment with drug calculations and infusion rates. However, these challenges can be mitigated through patient monitoring, training, simulation, and field exposure.
Harnessing TIVA and CRI in Your Practice
As a veterinarian or a veterinary clinic manager, your top priority is to provide the safest and most efficient care to your patients. TIVA and CRI offer a sophisticated approach to anesthesia delivery in small animal medicine and can significantly transform your anesthesia practices. TIVA uses IV anesthetic and analgesic drugs to maintain consistent anesthesia throughout a procedure, while CRI allows for a steady and adjustable delivery of these anesthetics.
A significant leap in sophistication from simple infusion sets or specific volume pumps is the utilization of a CRI syringe pump, such as the VetroCRI.
Benefits of TIVA with VetroCRI
The combination of TIVA and a syringe driver results in smaller variations in plasma concentration and fewer oscillations of the hemodynamic, respiratory, and central effects than injectable anesthesia, where the depth of anesthesia is hard to adjust.
The incorporation of TIVA and constant rate infusion using the VetroCRI syringe pump in your veterinary practice is a promising way to enhance the quality of care you provide. This method not only offers a more controlled and safer approach to anesthesia administration, but also presents a cost-effective solution for your clinic.
Interested in the VetroCRI syringe pump and its applications in TIVA and CRI? Learn more about how the VetroCRI can elevate your practice.
Source: Imrie, P. (2023, May 12). Update on total and partial IV anaesthesia | Vet Times