INITIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE PREOPERATIVE EMERGENCY PATIENT

摘要

Even under the best of circumstances, the anesthetic management of the healthy veterinary patient is challenging. When compounded with acute illness or trauma, our challenges are increased. We are now required to take into account the potential physiological changes imposed by the illness or trauma. The emergent or critically ill patient’s own compensatory mechanisms or reserves are tenuous at best and the addition of anesthesia may lead to decompensation of the patient’s condition. It will be thejob of the veterinary health care team to optimize the emergency patient’s condition so as to make it a better anesthetic candidate. The preanesthesia nursing management of the emergency patient requires that the technician be skilled and knowledgeablein patient assessment. The technician should also be knowledgeable in patient stabilization of the major body systems, pathophysiology of common emergency conditions, and peri-anesthetic nursing management. This discussion will focus on emergency nursing care in the preanesthetic period.