ALAT Anesthesia and Analgesia in Laboratory Animals 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the most common cause of hypothermia in anesthetized small laboratory animals?
- Excessive sweating through the skin
- Heat absorption by surgical lighting
- Impaired thermoregulation combined with heat loss from the body surface (Correct answer)
- Over-administration of intravenous fluids
Correct answer: Impaired thermoregulation combined with heat loss from the body surface
Anesthetic agents impair thermoregulatory mechanisms, and small animals lose body heat rapidly due to their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, making hypothermia a major anesthetic risk.
Question 2: What is the recommended environmental temperature for recovering post-anesthetic rodents?
- Standard room temperature (20–22°C)
- Warm environment (28–32°C) (Correct answer)
- Cool environment (15–18°C)
- Exact body temperature (37–38°C)
Correct answer: Warm environment (28–32°C)
A warm recovery environment of 28–32°C helps prevent hypothermia in post-anesthetic rodents that temporarily cannot regulate their own body temperature.
Question 3: Atipamezole is a reversal agent used to antagonize which class of drugs?
- Opioids
- Benzodiazepines
- Alpha-2 adrenergic agonists such as xylazine (Correct answer)
- Barbiturates
Correct answer: Alpha-2 adrenergic agonists such as xylazine
Atipamezole is a specific alpha-2 adrenergic antagonist that rapidly reverses the sedation, muscle relaxation, and cardiovascular effects of alpha-2 agonists like xylazine and medetomidine.
Question 4: Which of the following best describes the purpose of an anesthetic record in laboratory animal procedures?
- Legal billing documentation for institutional reimbursement
- Documentation of drugs, doses, monitoring parameters, and observations during the procedure (Correct answer)
- A facility-wide log of all animals currently under anesthesia
- A record of which technician performed the procedure for liability purposes
Correct answer: Documentation of drugs, doses, monitoring parameters, and observations during the procedure
Anesthetic records provide a complete medical and procedural account including agents used, doses, monitoring data, and any complications, supporting animal welfare and scientific reproducibility.
Question 5: What is the primary risk of recovering an anesthetized animal without continuous monitoring?
- The animal may chew on sutures before they are fully set
- Life-threatening complications such as respiratory depression, aspiration, or hypothermia may go undetected (Correct answer)
- The animal will be overly active and may injure itself
- The anesthetic agents will not clear from the system completely
Correct answer: Life-threatening complications such as respiratory depression, aspiration, or hypothermia may go undetected
Without monitoring, serious life-threatening events including respiratory arrest, aspiration pneumonia, and severe hypothermia can develop and go undetected, resulting in animal death.
Question 6: Which method is recommended for maintaining body temperature in a small rodent during surgery?
- Wrapping the entire animal in wet sterile gauze
- Placing the animal on a warm water-circulating pad or forced-air warming blanket (Correct answer)
- Raising room temperature to 38°C
- Directing surgical lights directly onto the animal's body surface
Correct answer: Placing the animal on a warm water-circulating pad or forced-air warming blanket
Warm water-circulating pads and forced-air warming blankets provide safe, consistent heat transfer to maintain body temperature without the burn risk associated with direct heat sources.
Question 7: What is the correct immediate response if an anesthetized animal vomits during a procedure?
- Continue the procedure and clean up vomit afterward
- Turn the animal's head to the side, clear the airway immediately, and notify the veterinarian (Correct answer)
- Increase anesthetic depth to suppress the vomiting reflex
- Administer oral fluids to dilute stomach contents
Correct answer: Turn the animal's head to the side, clear the airway immediately, and notify the veterinarian
Vomiting during anesthesia creates an immediate aspiration risk; positioning the head downward and clearing the airway is critical to prevent aspiration pneumonia.
ALAT Anesthesia and Analgesia in Laboratory Animals 2
What is the most common cause of hypothermia in anesthetized small laboratory animals?