Veterinary Cardiology Referrals
Supported by a state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit, our Specialist-led Anaesthesia team expertly provide anaesthetic and pain management for over 2000 patients per year.
Eastcott’s team of expert Anaesthetists, includes European and RCVS recognised Specialists who are pivotal in ensuring the highest standards of patient safety and comfort. Bespoke premedication and anaesthetic plans, ensure a fully individualised approach to each patient. In addition, tailored pain management protocols are implemented, including systemic analgesia and advanced locoregional techniques- to ensure that all patients remain comfortable and pain-free whilst supporting a quick recovery.
Supported by a dedicated Anaesthesia nursing team providing round the clock care and support, our Anaesthetists work together with our team of Specialists across 13 disciplines to ensure the safest possible care for each and every patient.
Our Anaesthetists and Anaesthesia nurses review all patients' clinical history and medications, to tailor patient management, including administration of medications such as anticoagulants, antiepileptics, cardiac or behavioural medications.
For our most critical patients, our Anaesthetists will handover to our Critical Care team in our dedicated emergency ward. During the recovery phase, Anaesthesia and Critical Care teams work closely to provide the best care possible, including the use of vasopressors, transfusions, fluid therapy, acid-base imbalances and analgesia.
Anaesthesia Facilities
All procedures performed at Eastcott have individual anaesthetic planning. There is no one size fits all anaesthetic procedure, and so our protocols are amended based on patient breed, size, conformation or comorbidities, and procedure. At Eastcott our critical-care and anaesthesia facilities enable our team to optimise the management of challenging cases. Our hospital is fully equipped with:
- Multi-parameter monitors in each room including
-
- Electrocardiogram, pulse oximetry, capnograph, core temperature and blood pressure (invasive and non-invasive) to allow early detection of complications during sedation and general anaesthesia.
- Spirometry to monitor lung function
- Anaesthetic gases, to ensure adequate anaesthetic depth
- Fluid pumps and syringe drivers with bespoke drug library
- Forced air warmer devices – to avoid hypothermia
- Mechanical ventilators (in every theatre)
- Portable ventilators (in diagnostic areas)
- Cardiac output monitoring
- Dedicated ultrasound machine and nerve stimulator – to perform advanced locoregional anaesthesia techniques
- Anaesthetic gas trolleys with portable monitors, to facilitate patient transportation and monitoring
Pain Management
A key aspect of our Anaesthesia team’s work is providing advice regarding optimal pain relief for patients during hospitalisation and convalescence at home, treating acute and chronic pain conditions.
Effective pain relief is an essential aspect of recovery following any surgical procedure, illness or chronic disease, such as osteoarthritis. This is usually best achieved by using multi-modal analgesia where a number of pain-relieving techniques and medications are used at the same time to get the best result.
At Eastcott, we are very proud to offer loco-regional anaesthesia to all our surgical patients where appropriate. These techniques involve the use of local anaesthetics agents to numb the area being operated on. We use ultrasound or nerve stimulators to help ensure the local anaesthetic is placed close to the nerve to guarantee that it is as effective as possible and reduce the risk of complications. Our team also works closely with our Veterinary Physiotherapist and uses non-pharmacological techniques, such as acupuncture, to reduce pain and stress in hospitalised patients and those with chronic conditions.
