General anesthesia for surgical treatment of urethral obstruction in nine goats

Abstract

Nine pygmy goats underwent surgical treatment for obstructive urolithiasis in a period of six months. In two cases, (second) revision surgery was necessary resulting in a total of twelve procedures under general anesthesia. Different anesthetic protocols were applied: analgesia was provided by an opioid (12/12) combined with either benzodiazepine (10/12) or an alpha-2 agonist (2/12). Anesthesia was induced with propofol (10/12) or ketamine (2/12) and maintained with isoflurane (8/12) or sevoflurane (4/12) in oxygen in a semi-closed circle system with continuous monitoring during anesthesia. Minor complications were mild bradycardia (4/12), hypotension (3/12), metabolic acidosis (1/12) and hypothermia (12/12). In four cases, epidural anesthesia was performed; in one of those four cases, severe complications developed (paralysis, 1/4). The goat was euthanized later. Although urethral obstruction increases the risk of general anesthesia, the selection of an appropriate anesthetic protocol, adequate preoperative examination/ preparation and detailed monitoring throughout anesthesia reduced the incidence of severe complications in this case series.