This webinar is part of the Equine Anesthesia Training Program

This module focuses on the anesthetic management of horses presenting with instability, severe systemic disease, or emergency conditions, where careful planning and rapid adaptation are essential to reduce peri-anesthetic risk.

You will learn how to perform a focused pre-anesthetic assessment in compromised patients and identify the most important factors that influence anesthetic decision-making. Particular attention is paid to how standard anesthetic protocols may need to be adjusted in patients with hemodynamic instability, severe pain, blood loss, shock, respiratory compromise, or other critical abnormalities.

The module also discusses pain management strategies in emergency cases, with emphasis on balancing adequate analgesia with cardiovascular and respiratory safety. Practical considerations regarding patient positioning are covered as well, especially in challenging situations such as fractures or severely unstable patients, where positioning can have an important impact on both patient safety and surgical access.

More advanced aspects of monitoring and ventilation are reviewed, including the recognition of deterioration during anesthesia and the need to respond quickly to changes in cardiovascular or respiratory status. Recovery is addressed as a particularly critical phase in these patients, with discussion of how recovery can be planned and managed to reduce complications in unstable or high-risk horses.

Clinical examples are used throughout the module to illustrate how these principles can be applied in practice, including anesthesia for colic surgery, fractures, severe hemorrhage, shock, and cesarean section.

Topics include:

• Pre-anesthetic assessment in compromised and unstable patients
• Identification of major anesthetic risk factors
• Adjustment of anesthetic protocols in emergency situations
• Pain management strategies in critically ill horses
• Positioning considerations, including fracture cases
• Advanced cardiovascular and respiratory monitoring
• Ventilation strategies in compromised patients
• Recognition and management of intra-anesthetic deterioration
• Recovery planning and management in high-risk cases

By the end of this module, you should have a more structured approach to planning and managing anesthesia in unstable and emergency equine patients, while being better prepared to adapt your anesthetic strategy to rapidly changing clinical circumstances.

General information:

• Teacher: Zoe Vandaele, DVM
• Duration: min 1 hour 15 min