Idiopathic Issues

Traditionally, we’ve had three options to defeat cancer in veterinary patients: surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. In recent years, however, we have begun to do more research into a fourth option: immunotherapy. 

When we think of the immune system, we typically think about its ability to recognize and eliminate infectious disease. In reality, however, the immune system can serve the same role in recognizing and eliminating cancer.

Unfortunately, the process of recognizing and eliminating a tumor is much less straightforward than the process involved in recognizing and eliminating a bacterial infection. Tumors have a number of methods for evading the host immune responses, including the production of immunosuppressive cytokines and the alteration of dendritic cell maturation/functions.

When you envision giving a blood transfusion, you might imagine a scenario where you’re immediately leaping into action during a high-pressure situation. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth! Even after you have performed your crossmatches to confirm compatibility, you will still need to sit down at your desk and spend a few minutes on math. 

Let’s look at these calculations through the lens of a case study.

It’s a relatively quiet night on your first shift as an emergency veterinarian. You’re seeing the normal rotation of skin, ears, and diarrhea cases, with just a few hospitalized patients to monitor through the night. One of those patients is Rex, a 20 kg MN mixed breed dog who presented to the day shift after being hit by a car.

The daytime veterinarian determined that Rex was in pretty good shape, overall, except for a tibial fracture, which she stabilized with a Robert-Jones bandage until a surgeon can repair the fracture (which will likely happen in one to two days). She started Rex on some pain medication, but mentioned that he may need a change in his pain management protocol as his sedation wears off. 

While you may be able to use apps and online calculators for much of the math that you perform on a regular basis, the truth is that both the NAVLE^® and your vet school courses will require you to understand how to perform a variety of calculations without those aids. 

Take this chance to test your knowledge!

We all know that anesthetic gas exposure has risks. Short-term effects of an acute waste anesthetic gas exposure may include a headache, fatigue, and nausea. Longer-term, however, the risks are even more severe. Inhalant anesthetics have been associated with neurologic changes, liver and kidney damage, reproductive disorders, hematopoietic issues, and even neoplasia. Waste anesthetic gas exposure may also pose a miscarriage risk in pregnant women, although this has not been definitively determined. 

In order to minimize these risks, it’s important for everyone on the hospital team to work to limit waste anesthetic gas exposure.