Introduction

• Monitoring of respiration should be continuously carried out throughout every anesthetic procedure.
• Observing the movement of the chest and abdomen will give a good guide to rate and depth of respiration, even under IV anesthesia.
• Observation of the reservoir bag in inhalation anesthesia will give a good estimate of the end tidal volume and rate of respiration.
• Methods of monitoring respiration which require specialized equipment include arterial blood gas analysis   Blood: gas analysis  , measurement of end-tidal carbon dioxide and inspired oxygen, pulse oximetry (which measures saturation of hemoglobin with oxygen) and spirometry (measures tidal volume).
• Most of the above equipment is expensive, but it can provide valuable information.

Blood gas analysis

Respiratory gas analysis

Pulse oximetry

Respiratory complications

Further Reading

Publications

Refereed papers

• Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
• Trim C M (1998) Monitoring during anesthesia - techniques and interpretation. Equine Vet Educ 10 (4), 207-218.
• Riebold T W (1990) Monitoring equine anesthesia. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract 6 (3), 607-624 PubMed.
• Klein L (1990) Anesthetic complications in the horse. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract 6 (3), 676-681 PubMed.
• Young S (1989) Monitoring the anesthetized horse. Equine Vet Educ 1 (1), 45-49.
• Moens Y (1989) Arterial-alveolar carbon dioxide tension difference and alveolar dead space in halothane anesthetized horses. Equine Vet J 21, 282-284 PubMed.
• Cribb P H (1988) Capnographic monitoring during anesthesia with controlled ventilation in the horse. Vet Surg 17, 48-52 PubMed.
• Meyer R E & Short C E (1985) Arterial to end-tidal CO2 tension and alveolar dead space in halothane or isoflurane anesthetized ponies. Am J Vet Res 46, 597-599 PubMed.

Other sources of information

• Magee P T (2005) Physiological Monitoring: Gases. In: Wards Anaesthetic Equipment. Eds: Davey A J & Diba A. Elsevier Saunders. pp 355-359.
• Taylor P M & Clarke K W (1999) Monitoring. In: Handbook of Equine Anaesthesia. W B Saunders. pp 88-89.
• Hubbell J A E (1991) Monitoring. In: Equine Anesthesia Monitoring and Emergency Therapy. Eds: Muir W W & Hubbell J A E. Mosby Year Book. pp 159-160.
• McDonell W N & Dyson D H (1990) Monitoring the anesthetized horse. In: Current Practice of Equine surgery. Eds: White N A & Moore J N. Lippincott. pp 87-93. ISBN: 0-397-50937-5.

Further Information 

• The Webinar Vet - Capnography- what is it telling me?