L’anestesia nelle tartarughe terrestri e palustri

Barsotti, Giovanni and Mori, Leonardo and Melanie, Pierre and Romeo, Teresa and Bianchi, Elena (2002) L’anestesia nelle tartarughe terrestri e palustri. Annali della Facoltà di Medicina veterinaria, LV/200 . pp. 107-122. ISSN 0365-4729

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Abstract

RIASSUNTO Nell’attività clinica quotidiana al medico veterinario sono richieste, con sempre maggiore frequenza, prestazioni professionali sulle tartarughe. Non tutte le specie di cheloni hanno un carattere mansueto, e la loro visita, come anche la realizzazione d’interventi diagnostico-terapeutici, richiede l’esecuzione di una sedazione o di un’anestesia. Le tartarughe differiscono dai mammiferi per particolarità anatomiche e fisiologiche, pertanto i protocolli anestesiologici ed il monitoraggio del paziente in corso d’anestesia devono essere ben conosciuti ed adattati alle peculiarità di questi rettili. SUMMARY Everyday the veterinarian is required to visit a new domestic animal, the turtle. Some species of turtles are wild or can inflict a painful bite, so is necessary a sedation or an anaesthesia in order to perform a clinical examination, a collection of diagnostic samples or for surgical procedures. However, turtles present a very unique morphology and physiology and differ in many ways from mammalians. So, anaesthetic management and monitoring of the patient during sedation and anaesthesia should be known, because the drugs and the dosages used successfully in mammals may prove to be inadequate in these species. As a thorough knowledge and understanding of reptilian anatomy and physiology is essential for proper medical treatment and anesthesia, the main anatomic and physiologic differences of turtles are reported. The blood sampling techniques are described, too. Drugs and dosages commonly used in turtles, with particular emphasis about the more safety anaesthetic techniques, are also examined. Moreover, monitoring the anaesthetised turtle is critical to the successful outcome of anaesthesia and recovery, so heart rate and rhythm, as well as respiratory rate and temperature should be carefully monitored. The latter, in particular, has a great influence on drug metabolism and elimination, then a not adequate temperature during the recovery period can make it longer.

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