Give inhalation anaesthesia to open udder to remove tumour
A team of veterinarians at the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Pookode under Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University has successfully performed gas anaesthesia on a bovine, a first in the State.
Under the procedure, vapours of isoflurane, a general anaesthetic, is delivered to the lungs using oxygen as carrier gas with the help of a gas anaesthesia machine.
Also called inhalation anaesthesia, this method is widely practised in human anaesthesia and anaesthesia of pet animals such as dogs and cats.
“It is for the first time in the State this method of anaesthesia is practised on a cow – that too in one which weighing 300 kg,” says S. Sooryadas, assistant professor, Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology at the varsity.
The cow had a tumour like mass in the udder towards the base of her two teats, which was obstructing milk flow, Dr. Sooryadas, who led the surgery, said.
Apart from the anaesthesia, it is for the first time the udder of a cow is being opened for surgical removal of a tumour like mass, he said.
“Gas anaesthesia in cows requires a dedicated anaesthesia machine that is manufactured for the particular purpose,” P.T. Dinesh, assistant professor at the department, said.
Such machines are imported and may cost around ₹25 lakh. Hence, as an alternative, doctors at the surgery department modified their small animal anaesthesia machine to suit it for the procedure in the cow, Dr. Dinesh, who was also in the surgery team, said.
Cost of machine
“The cost of the customised machine will come around ₹2 lakh. The gas anaesthesia procedure is the first of its kind for a cow in our State,” he added.
N.S. Jinesh Kumar and Reji Varghese, assistant professors, were the other team members.
The doctors have been invited to present a paper on the procedure at the annual congress and national symposium of the Indian Society for Veterinary Surgery to be held in Gujarat from November 22 to 24.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by F.M. Manoj / Kalpeta – October 30th, 2018