A review of anesthetic monitoring methods in small animals

General anesthesia is defined as controlled and reversible depression of the central nervous system. Apart from the central nervous system, other functions of the body are also affected directly or indirectly by the anesthetic drugs in such a way that there is always the probability of irreversible derangements and patient mortality during anesthesia. Continuous observation of the anesthetized patient to ensure adequate physiological function and depth of anesthesia is termed monitoring of anesthesia. Strict monitoring increases the safety of anesthetic drugs and reduces patient mortality. The importance of familiarity with the techniques of monitoring in small animal anesthesia is due to the fact that almost all surgical procedures in dogs and cats are conducted under general anesthesia. In this article, various methods of anesthetic monitoring in small animals will be described.