This week we will look at critical aspects of drug pharmacology in patients with emergency or critical illness. Far from an abstract look at how drugs are metabolized, we’ll look at how patients’ physiology in real illnesses causes your patients to respond to drug administration differently – and how to avoid potential problems in drug administration. We will also take a look at the common anaesthetic and analgesic drugs, and how they work, so we can begin to piece together our analgesic and anaesthetic plan!
This week is all about analgesia provision in the critical patient, including a guide on what drugs to use, what drugs to avoid, the use of local and regional anaesthesia/analgesia and the concept of multi-modal analgesia, and continuous drug infusions – and how to make them simple, and how to manipulate your drug selection to minimise side effects, and optimise analgesia. This is all prefaced by a look at how pain is generated and perceived in patients, and how to use pain management scales to identify when your critically ill patients are painful – and what happens if you ignore pain signals in your patients!
Anaesthesia in critically unwell patients can be challenging. Add to this that there is sometimes confusion about what constitutes a “safe” anaesthetic drug or protocol, and the challenge can become a significant one – with your patient’s life in your hands. This week we’ll decode the mysteries of the most commonly used anaesthetic drugs, how they work, give you essential information on what they actually do to your patients – and how to optimise their use. We’ll also develop a shortlist of anaesthetic protocols for patients with diseases ranging from caesarean, cardiac disease, chronic renal failure, heart disease, acute respiratory distress and much more!
You plan your anaesthetic carefully, prepare the patient as well as possible – but thing’s just don’t go right… the patient wakes up, or goes too deep, blood pressure falls, monitors won’t work, the patient won’t breathe – or breathes too much! All of this while you are trying to do surgery, or something else with the patient! This week, we will dissect these nightmares, find out the causes, and offer useful suggestions on dealing with them!
BVSc MVS PG Cert Vet Stud MACVSc (Vet. Emergency and Critical Care; Medicine of Dogs)
Get an exclusive printed and bound course book at an additional fee of AUD 40. Grab the print book now!
The 4-week course starts on April 18, 2022 with live tutorials by Dr Philip Judge on Mondays at 19:30 AEST.
You can join us from almost anywhere you have an internet connection! Click Here to check the course tutorial times where you are!
This course is ideal for Veterinarians and is RACE-approved for 20 CE credits!
Kidney disease is relatively common in small animals – and frequently, patients with kidney dysfunction require anaesthesia for procedures including dental therapy, removal of neoplastic lesions, and emergency surgery following trauma.
Because anaesthesia carries with it the risk of hypotension, it can potentially add significant risk to a patient with pre-existing kidney compromise.
This free ebook provides a description of the major considerations in patients with kidney disease facing anaesthesia – and how to approach the anaesthetic safely and effectively.
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Following his residency, Philip worked for nearly 6 years at the Animal Emergency Centre in Melbourne, becoming the Senior Veterinarian at the centre in 2004. In 2006, Philip undertook a 1-year surgical externship before moving to Townsville to take up the position of Senior Lecturer in Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care at JCU. Philip is also co-founder, and director of Vet Education Pty Ltd (www.veteducation.com) – one of Australia’s leading providers of online continuing education for veterinarians and veterinary nurses.
Philip has published numerous manuals and guides concerning emergency medicine, including a CRI manual, haematology and biochemistry interpretation guide, emergency anaesthesia guide, and a ventilation therapy manual for small animals, in addition to being published in peer reviewed literature.
Philip’s key interests in veterinary science include respiratory emergencies, ventilation therapy, envenomations and toxicology.
