Anesthetic and postanesthetic management of sea turtles

Abstract

Objective To examine the physiologie effects of inhalation anesthesia in aquatic turtles to improve anesthetic techniques and postanesthetic monitoring. Design Retrospective case series. Animals 9 Kemp's ridley sea turtles. Procedure Isoflurane was used as the general anesthetic during 14 minor surgical procedures. Turtles were orotracheally intubated, and a surgical plane of anesthesia was maintained with 2.7 ± 0.4% (mean ± SE) isoflurane. The duration of anesthesia was 131 ± 12 minutes. Pulse rate, blood pressure, blood gases (PaO2 and PaCO2) and pH, blood lactic acid concentration, and capnography were used to evaluate the physiologic responses of sea turtles to isoflurane. Results An isoflurane concentration of 3.4 ± 0.3% provided anesthetic induction in 7 ± 1 minutes. The mean duration of the recovery phase was 241 ± 31 minutes. The duration of the recovery phase was not affected by the duration of anesthesia, type of carrier gas, method of ventilatory weaning, or use of selected pharmacologic agents. The recovery phase was characterized by hypoxemia, progressive acidemia, hypercapnia, and lactic acidosis. Awakening in the turtles was preceded by a characteristic tachycardia and tachypnea. All sea turtles recovered from isoflurane anesthesia without apparent adverse effects within 24 hours. Clinical Implications Isoflurane appears to be safe and effective in providing surgical anesthesia in turtles that require a timely return to an aquatic environment. This study should assist veterinarians in predicting the physiologic responses of aquatic turtles to inhalation agents. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 1996;208:720–726)