When breathing doesn’t come easy… Emergency and anaesthesia management of the BOAS patient.

Brachycephalic pets are becoming increasingly popular with ownership spiking in recent years. Brachycephalic breeds are associated with several conditions, including respiratory diseases, such as brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS) and aspiration pneumonia, gastrointestinal disorders such as gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) and hiatal hernia, ophthalmic conditions, spinal disease, and emergency presentations such as heatstroke and dystocia. BOAS patients can have anything from one of the associated BOAS conditions to several, or all depending on the severity of the disease. We often associate these challenges with the canine patient, but it is important to remember that their feline counterparts are also often affected by similar conditions. These patients present several challenges for the veterinary team and therefore planning, and preparation is of the utmost importance when it comes to nursing and anaesthetising these patients. This session will look at the emergency stabilisation, and anaesthesia considerations and offer tips for nursing these patients whilst hospitalised within the clinic.

• -List how to be prepared for the emergency patient presenting and how to carry out an initial patient assessment.
• -Understand how to perform a pre-anaesthetic evaluation to identify the specific anaesthesia considerations for that individual patient in relation to its clinical status and the procedure requiring anaesthesia, to make a balanced anaesthetic plan.
• -To be better prepared for the challenges with brachycephalic anaesthesia to including the intubation, monitoring and recovery from anaesthesia.
• -Discuss nursing considerations for the hospitalised brachycephalic patient