Different Types of GA

Just wondered what peoples opinion of the two types of anesthetic - the line in the ear and the gas.

Which does your vets use?

My opinion on anaesthetic is based on this thread:

http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?139138-Advice-on-spay-anaesthetics-appreciated

and particularly from the quote below (taken from that thread)

marie_kubiak said:

we use domitor and ketamine, with an opioid (buprenorphine/torb depending on level of analgesia and additional sedation needed), then maintain with isoflurane. We never induce with isoflurane as it really stings the eyes and nose, so use it to maintain anaesthetic only after injectable induction. Mask inductions using isoflurane are very stressful too so bunnies release catecholamines (stress-linked hormones) which can lead to irregular heart rhythms so standard procedure is now to get them asleep with injectable anaesthetics and keep them asleep with iso. Most practices won't list Isoflurane on an invoice as it is difficult to quantify how much is used as it is volatile, not a set liquid amount, it is usually charged as 'X minutes anaesthetic' or within the cost of neutering.

As an aside we would never consider using Atipamazole (Antisedan) intravenously, didn't realise people still did this :shock:

Click to expand...

Having read that I would never have a rabbit put under anaesthetic with 'gas' ie isoflurane unless there was a really good reason that injectable anaesthetic couldn't be used, even then I'm not sure I could justify the distress caused by the anaesthetic.

I don't think they are really two types of anaesthetic, more two ways of inducing anaesthesia. They both go onto gas maintenance once anaesthesia is induced, it's just a case of whether it is done directly using the gas or whether injected drugs are used first.

As Bunny Buddy says, it's really bad practice to just gas down without prior induction, it can result in all sorts of problems. Interestingly, I've been hearing some vets now say they induce with sevofluorane instead of isofluorane to reduce the problems with isofluorane induction, but this paper here suggests that in a comparison study, it still didn't make any difference http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10759391

I would expect a savvy vet to always use injectable drugs to induce anaesthesia, using gas to maintain it once the bun is asleep. I can't think of a single circumstance where I would be happy for a bun to be just gassed down directly. I guess it is cheaper so some vets might try it to keep costs low (I can think of one practice which I think does this...and i also know of 3 bunnies (so there must be many more!) who have come out of a neuter with broken backs from there...)

.

Ah i see, thanks to both of you. That's cleared up my nosiness(btw my practice doesn't just use gas!).