August 6, 2010

Too old for anesthesia?

Old age is not a disease and general anesthesia, done correctly, is very safe for older patients. Older patients have some unique anesthetic concerns and the drugs used and doses of those drugs are quite different. Proper drug selection, identification of any pre-existing medical conditions, and diligent patient monitoring are the keys to success with geriatric patients. At Animal Dental Care, we routinely treat patients up to 20 years of age. In fact, many veterinarians bring their own older pets to us for dental treatment.