The Veterinary clinics of North America. Small animal practice
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · Jul 2009
Ultrasound of the right lateral intercostal space.
When performing an abdominal ultrasound examination in dogs, a right lateral intercostal approach often is indicated. This approach allows for a complete examination of the abdomen, especially in large deep-chested dogs, dogs with microhepatica, or dogs with a large volume of intestinal gas or peritoneal effusion. The right lateral intercostal approach provides an acoustic window for the evaluation of the right side of the liver, porta hepatis, right limb and body of the pancreas, duodenum, right kidney, right adrenal gland, and hepatic lymph nodes.
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Ultrasound examination of the thorax is an extremely valuable adjunct imaging modality in chest wall, pleural, mediastinal, and pulmonary disease. While air-filled lungs will obscure some deeper pulmonary lesions, ultrasound can evaluate peripheral pulmonary disease, mediastinal masses, and the extent and character of pleural effusions. Ultrasound guidance of needle biopsies and thoracocentesis provides safe and accurate lesion sampling.
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · Mar 2009
ReviewThe human-companion animal bond: how humans benefit.
The human-animal bond is extremely important to most clients of small animal veterinary practices. Pet ownership, or just being in the presence of a companion animal, is associated with health benefits, including improvements in mental, social, and physiologic health status. This article provides the research data regarding the human health benefits of companion animals, animal-assisted therapy, animal-assisted activities, and assistance animals; reviews measures that can be taken to enable safe pet ownership for the immunocompromised, and discusses the veterinarian's role in supporting immune-compromised clients and clients who have assistance animals. Client education and enhanced veterinary care can reduce the risk from zoonotic diseases, even for the immunocompromised.
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · Nov 2008
ReviewEpidural analgesia and anesthesia in dogs and cats.
Current knowledge of drugs administered epidurally has allowed an effective way of providing analgesia for a wide variety of conditions in veterinary patients. Proper selection of drugs and dosages can result in analgesia of specific segments of the spinal cord with minimal side effects. Epidural anesthesia is an alternative to general anesthesia with inhalation anesthetics, although the combination of both techniques is more common and allows for reduced doses of drugs used with each technique. Epidural anesthesia and intravenous anesthetics can also be used without inhalation anesthetics in surgical procedures caudal to the diaphragm.
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Vet. Clin. North Am. Small Anim. Pract. · Nov 2008
ReviewAnalgesia for the critically ill dog or cat: an update.
Acute pain reliably accompanies severe illness and injury, and when sufficiently severe, it can complicate the recovery of critically ill patients. Because acute pain is closely tied to the neurologic process of nociception, pharmacologic therapy is often essential and effective. This update focuses on two methods of treatment of acute pain-local anesthetic infusion and continuous intravenous infusion of multimodal agents-that can be layered on top of standard care with other drugs.