Anaesthesia (SA11) Flashcards
(237 cards)
What are the 3 main routes anaesthesia drugs are administered?
- Intravenous
- Intramuscular
- Inhalation
Why is it important to monitor anaesthetised patients closely and understand how to identify changes that may occur?
- Many homeostatic systems are suppressed
- Prevent long-term effects of anaesthesia
What is the autonomic nervous system?
- Regulates involuntary processes
- Comprised of sympathetic and parasympathetic
- Many processes suppressed under GA
- Expect return to normal function quickly in healthy patients
What does the sympathetic nervous system do?
- Dilates pupils
- Inhibits salivation
- Accelerates heart beat
- Dilates bronchi
- Inhibits digestion
- Stimulates glucose release in liver
- Stimulates epinephrine + norepinephrine release in kidneys
- Inhibit peristalsis and secretions in intestines
- Relaxes bladder
What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?
- Constricts pupils
- Stimulates salivation
- Slows heart beat
- Constricts bronchi
- Stimulates digestion
- Stimulates bile release in liver
- Stimulates peristalsis and secretion in intestines
- Contracts bladder
What is high vagal tone?
Parasympathetic nervous system more dominant, seen in brachycephalics
What order will inspired air pass through the respiratory system?
- Nasal cavity
- Pharynx
- Larynx
- Trachea
- Bronchi
- Bronchioles
- Alveoli
What controls the respiratory cycle?
- Chemoreceptors detect changes in O2 and CO2
- High CO2 lowers blood pH = more acidic
- Disrupting acid base balance
- Medulla changes depth and rate to expel CO2
- pH will return to normal
Where are chemoreceptors found?
- Walls of aorta and carotid artery
- In the medulla
What prevents over inflation of the lungs?
- Hering-Bruer reflex
- Stretch receptors in walls of bronchi + bronchioles
- Monitor stretching during inspiration
- Send impulses via vagus nerve to brain
- inspiratory centre prevents further inspiration
Gaseous exchange
- Only occurs in alveoli
- One cell thick walls + lots of capillaries
- Gases move by diffusion, high to low concentration
- O2, air into blood. CO2, blood into air
- Water vapour lost in process
- Inhalation anaesthesia reliant on effectiveness of this to be administered and excreted from the body
How can tissue hypoxia be prevented?
- Organ damage can occur even if tissues are deprived of oxygen for short periods
- Critical oxygen tension level must be provided for metabolic consumption
- 2-7mls/kg/minute for cats and dogs
- Not recommended
Acid base balance and respiration
- CO2 high, carbonic acid released
- Hydrogen ions released, decrease in pH
- Respiratory acidocis
- CO2 low, hydrogen ions lost, increases pH
- Respiratory alkalosis
- Even slight pH variations cause severe effects
How may respiratory disorder affect anaesthesia?
- Impaired diffusion of inhaled gases
- Risk of hypoxia from impaired gaseous exchange
Hypoxaemia
- Low level of oxygen in blood
Hypoxia
- Low oxygen in certain area
- E.G. tissue hypoxia
What is critical oxygen tension level?
- Oxygen level required for metabolic consumption to prevent tissue hypoxia
- 2-7ml/kg/minute for dogs and cats
What is respiratory acidosis?
- High levels of CO2
- High levels of carbonic acid
What is respiratory alkalosis?
- High levels of O2
- Low levels of CO2
What is hypercapnia?
Raised ETCO2
What is hypocapnia?
Low ETCO2
What is the normal CO2 level in patients?
35 - 45 mmHg
What causes hypercapnia?
Hypoventilation
What causes hypocapnia?
Hyperventilation