Is Gabapentin the new Tramadol?
We see quite a many post on Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds discussing the use of Gabapentin for acute post surgical pain..but what does the evidence say? 
Here Stephen breaks down how this drug works, why acute pain may not be the best use of gabapentin and what you should reach for instead.

Resources mentioned in this episode:
Pypendop B, Siao K, Lkiw J. Thermal antinociceptive effect of orally administered gabapentin in healthy cats. Am J Vet Res. 2010;71(9). doi:10.2460/AJVR.71.9.1027

Reid P, Pypendop B, Ilkiw J. The effects of intravenous gabapentin administration on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in cats. Anesth Analg. 2010;111(3). doi:10.1213/ANE.0B013E3181E51245

Johnson B, Aarnes T, Wanstrath A, et al. Effect of oral administration of gabapentin on the minimum alveolar concentration of isoflurane in dogs. Am J Vet Res. 2019;80(11). doi:10.2460/AJVR.80.11.1007

VAN 046- Stephen Cital RVT, VTS (LAM), SRA, CVPP

BP goes down and the fluids go up...that's the way it goes right?
Well it might be time to re-think those old rules of hypotension management. 
Today we are joined by Michelle Albino a fantastic VTS(anesthesia) out of NYC to discuss when to bring on the fluids and when to just get your  vasoactive drugs going.

Born and raised in New York, Michelle graduated from SUNY Delhi and has been an LVT since 2003. For 12 years, she was employed at the Animal Medical Center in New York City in the anesthesia and emergency departments. She served as team leader of the anesthesia department and oversaw anesthesia training and education for 5 years at the AMC. Michelle worked alongside Dr. William Muir, gathering data for his study in fluid responsiveness via the Masimo PVI for patients undergoing general anesthesia, and authored a book chapter on the topic of analgesic pharmacology for a textbook on pain management in veterinary patients.  

She became board certified in anesthesia/analgesia in the fall of 2012 and started her own company where she visits hospitals to help elevate staff knowledge on anesthesia and pain management offering lectures, labs, and hands-on supervision and training. Michelle currently is employed at the ASPCA animal hospital in New York City as director of training and education. In this role she provides in-house continuing education, creates and updates medical operating procedures, provides anesthesia and pain management consults, and works to elevate onboarding and training processes utilizing adult learning techniques. In addition, she recently became virtual facilitation and training and adult learning certified.

VAN 047- Michelle Albino VTS (Anesthesia)

Your mission should you choose to accept it...anesthetize this old cranky cat with kidney disease. There are many variables to consider and VTS Anesthesia Elizabeth Hart is here to help us through. What drugs should we avoid? What monitoring is the most important? Elizabeth explains what things to prepare to make anesthesia for the kidney dz patient a breeze! 

Elizabeth graduated from Michigan State University (GO SPARTANS!!!!) in 2003 with her BS in Agribusiness, she obtained her VTS in 2022 and currently works for a large specialty and emergency center in Lebanon, NJ.

VAN 048- Elizabeth Hart BS, CVT, VTS (Anesthesia)

There one drug class that can strike fear into the hearts of veterinary professionals: NMBA or muscle relaxers. This drug class is often used in optho patients however can prove to be beneficial in many other patient presentations. On today's podcast we talk to Rian Ashmore a VTS Anesthesia about what NMBA's are, how they function, and how you can utilize them in your practice. 

Rian graduated from Minnesota School of Business in 2012 and worked in private practice for several years before joining the University of Minnesota in 2014. In 2016 he began doing anesthesia full time and in 2021 he obtained his VTS in Anesthesia and Analgesia. Last year he transitioned to a teaching position where he works with fourth year students in their clinical anesthesia rotation by giving topic rounds, helping them work up cases, inducing and maintaining anesthesia, etc. Rian's biggest interests are in teaching and treating patients with cardiac disease, especially patients referred for interventional radiology cases.

VAN 049- Rian Ashmore CVT, VTS (Anesthesia)

Worlds collide on this episode of the VAN podcast! We are joined by CRNA known as "AnesthesiaGawd" on the socials. We talk about becoming a CRNA, differences in human vs vet med, drug pharmacology, and why I love a Macintosh blade! 

Look for Anesthesia Gawd on Instagram to follow along.

VAN 050- VAN x AnesthesiaGawd

We've all been there...the patient comes to our surgery service with buprenorphine on board. Now what do we do? Can we give pure mu opioids? Is buprenorphine enough for pain? How long do we have to wait for efficacy?
Today we are talking with anesthesiologist Bryce Dooley about buprenorphine and why we may judge this molecule harshly. Buprenorphine is a great drug when used appropriately and a mainstay addition to many analgesic plans.

VAN 051- S. Bryce Dooley DVM, DACVAA

When it comes to onboarding your new hires what's the one thing that seems to inevitably get messed up? Training! Especially in surgery and anesthesia.
In this episode, we talk to Clair Sauer, MSEd, CVT about ways we train folks (hint...there are best practices) ways we test folks on knowledge, and ways to make sure we are setting new employees up for success.

Clair Sauer started her career as a High School Science teacher.  After teaching in the USA and Japan over the span of a decade, she earned her MSEd from West Chester University in 2004 . Since then, she has been involved in developing and spreading awareness of inclusive science programs for urban youth and under represented communities. 

 Upon leaving formal teaching, she worked extensively  shelter medicine, animal welfare and public resource management. Working in shelter med led her to pursue her CVT, which she received in 2018 from Harcum College. 

She loves being a CVT in both anesthesia and critical care while integrating her education background into her current role in academia. As well as still growing as a tech and becoming more aware of her own neurodivergence, she makes time to stay active in improving education and access to veterinary medicine for all. She has been nominated and recognized for her achievements and leadership, most recently in 2022, receiving the VECCS Steven Haskins Scholarship.

 She lives in Philadelphia with her 2 Doberman Pinschers and 2 kitties. Most of all, Clair likes going dancing with other nerds in vet med and riding bikes in the woods.  You can find her on IG @thevettechteacher and she is currently exploring life as a lecturer and consultant in education-based initiatives in our field. 
Email her at Clair.cvt@gmail.com with questions, comments, hellos, and content requests.

VAN 052- Clair Sauer, MSEd, CVT

As you all know recovery from anesthesia and surgery is an integral part of the process. In today's episode, we talk with Feliza Lopez a VTS ECC technician in NYC who explains what makes an optimal recovery. This one is for you nutrition nerds because guess what??? it plays a huge role in recovery for some of our ICU patients. 
Feliza Lopez is a speaker, educator, and the Director of Emergency and Critical Care at the Schwarzman Animal Medical Center in New York City.

VAN 053- Feliza Lopez LVT,VTS (ECC)

You know I love my ventilator... see the photo for how I reacted when we got the new Mindray Veta 5 in-house! But when using a ventilator in anesthesia, what do those modes even mean? Volume control, Pressure control, PEEP...it can get a bit confusing, so we have Glynis here to make sense of it all. Today we talk to Glynis Wileman. 
She has a PhD - AG Med, while she did not stay in that field, she has worked clinically for 13 years in STARS - specializing in Infant transport/ ECMO, and ventilation / Surfactant studies under Dr. Neil Finer, at RAH. Then onto Siemens/Draeger for Product development in Anesthesia / Ventilation platforms. She is a wealth of information when it comes to anesthesia and ventilation.

VAN 054- Glynis Wileman BSc, RRT, CET, PhD

Waking up is hard to do...especially when it's after anesthesia. This episode of the podcast features Darci Palmer LVT, VTS (anesthesia & analgesia) discussing the differences between dysphoria, emergence delirium, and pain. We talk about different medication options and tips for making anesthesia recovery smoother overall.
Darci Palmer has been a credentialed veterinary technician for 21 years. She obtained her veterinary technician specialty in anesthesia and analgesia in 2006 while working at the Washington State University (WSU) Veterinary Teaching Hospital followed by a position at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine. Currently Darci is at Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine where she is providing both didactic lectures and clinical hands-on training to the veterinary students.

In addition to her clinical work, she serves as the Academy of Veterinary Technicians in Anesthesia & Analgesia, Executive Secretary and in January 2021 she took over the chair of CVTS which is the committee that oversees all of the NAVTA recognized Veterinary Technician Specialty

VAN 049- Rian Ashmore CVT, VTS (Anesthesia)

Veterinary Anesthesia Nerds

Related tracks