Professor Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Balanced anesthesia is the combination of volatile anesthesia with at least 1 injectable anesthetic drug during the maintenance period with the aim of allowing for a lesser degree of central nervous system depression from the analgesic and relaxation properties of the injectable anesthetic.
Nowadays is common to use more than one injectable anesthetic drug to achieve the purpose of balanced anesthesia, and often these drugs may share or complement analgesic and relaxation properties.
This lecture covers injectable anesthetic drugs commonly used in combination with volatile anesthesia, the considerations and advantages of balanced anesthesia in small animal patients.
