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A History of Veterinary Anesthesia

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The Wondrous Story of Anesthesia

Abstract

The history of veterinary anesthesia has paralleled but lagged behind that of anesthesia for human patients (Fig. 23.7). The two have been intimately intertwined, each contributing to the advancement of the other. The introduction of veterinary anesthesia was delayed by the misperception that the induction of anesthesia in animals was painful’and unnecessary’one needed but to hobble the animal. Fortunately this misperception gave way to reality, and led to the governmental demand for the application of anesthesia to relieve the pain of surgery in animals. The conduct of anesthesia in animals today, as does surgery in animals, is remarkably similar to that in humans, particularly in the US, Canada, Great Britain, and Europe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The ‘Veterinarian’ was a journal launched in 1828 by William Percivall in the UK. It conveyed information concerning veterinary medicine in general (i.e., it was not a specialty publication). It likely was the earliest such publication in veterinary medicine but was independent of any organized veterinary association. It ceased publication in 1902 probably because the Veterinary Record was launched in late 1888 by the British Veterinary Medical Association.

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Acknowledgments

I particularly acknowledge S Allweiler, RB Heath, S Luna, I Segura, LR Soma, and BMQ Weaver who supplied their first hand knowledge of names, locations and activities for this essay. Special thanks to RS Jones for my repeated botherings, and Dennis Sylvain for timely and accurate library searches.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA, USA

    Eugene P. Steffey

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  1. Eugene P. Steffey
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Correspondence to Eugene P. Steffey .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

    Edmond I Eger II MD Emeritus Professor

  2. Departments of Anesthesia, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA

    Lawrence J. Saidman MD Emeritus Professor

  3. Geoffrey Kaye Museum of Anaesthetic History, Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Rod N. Westhorpe OAM, MB, BS FRCA, FANZCA Former Honorary Curator

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© 2014 Edmond I Eger, MD

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Steffey, E. (2014). A History of Veterinary Anesthesia. In: Eger II, E., Saidman, L., Westhorpe, R. (eds) The Wondrous Story of Anesthesia. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8441-7_23

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-8441-7_23

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-8440-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-8441-7

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