Preanesthetic Laboratory Consent
You or I would have current lab work performed by our doctors before any major sedative or anesthetic procedure, no questions asked. It would be considered malpractice if they did not! Would you feel comfortable undergoing sedation or anesthesia without your risks evaluated?
General anesthesia and sedation drugs can all cause potentially dangerous changes:
1. Lower blood pressure
2. Heart rate and heart rhythm changes
3. Depression of respirations, low blood oxygen, and high carbon dioxide levels
It is well documented that dogs and cats above the age of 7 years old, have increased risks of :
1. Kidney disease
2. Liver disease
3. Heart & Lung disease
Any preexisting kidney, liver, or heart disease can dramatically increase sedative/anesthetic drug side effect and increase the possibility and severity of anesthetic/sedative complication, including cardiac arrest.
*Heartworm testing is not considered preanesthetic lab work.
At VVC, our general anesthetic and sedative guidelines are as follows:
1. We will not perform major sedation or anesthesia on your pet if they are over 7 years old without current (within 4 weeks), age-appropriate bloodwork.
2. We strongly recommend that pets requiring frequent sedative grooming, bathing, minor medical procedures under 7 years old have age appropriate lab work performed once every 6 months minimally.
VVC Monitoring
• We further minimize anesthetic risk by monitoring heart rate and rhythm, respiration rate and quality, oxygenation, blood pressure, ECG readings, temperature, and depth of anesthesia during the procedure.
• For all general anesthetic procedures, an intravenous catheter is placed to provide us with an easy route to administer medications and fluids (which support kidney function and blood pressure) during the procedure.
• We will proactively manage pain associated with any procedure with appropriate pain management medications. As with any drug, side effects may be associated with administration.