Participants were asked about their personal experience with ETTs and intubation , and if they had experienced complications . Of the responses , 72.2 % ( n = 639 ) indicated they had never experienced a complication when intubating or as a result of intubation . Of those who had experienced a complication , the responses are detailed in Table 9 . When asked about complications , 32.5 % ( n = 80 ) reported laryngeal spasm , 13.4 % ( n = 33 ) had experienced postoperative coughing and 12.1 % identified secretions blocking the ETT . Lack of confidence and training , which included reasons such as being unable to select the correct tube size or hesitant about their intubation skills , was reported by 12.6 % ( n = 31 ) of participants .
Table 9 . Complications experienced by the respondents .
Complication
Number of responses
Laryngeal spasm 80 32.5
Coughing 33 13.4
Lack of confidence / training
Secretions blocking tube
Anatomical abnormalities
Oesophageal intubation
31 12.6
30 12.1
16 6.5
15 6.0
Tracheal tear 14 5.6
Laryngeal oedema 10 4.0
Laryngeal inflammation
Blood on tube on extubation
7 2.8
4 1.6
Laryngeal paralysis 3 1.2
Emergency – collapsed airway
Pre-medication ineffective
Subcutaneous emphysema
1 0.4
1 0.4
1 0.4
Percentage (%)
CONFIDENCE WITH ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION AND NUMBER OF YEARS QUALIFIED
Investigations were carried out to assess whether the length of time qualified affected the level of confidence with intubation . The median number of years qualified for complete confidence with endotracheal intubation was 8 years ; somewhat confident was 2 years ; and not very confident had a median of 2 years qualified . Finally , those who stated they were not at all confident with endotracheal intubation had a median qualified length of 7 years . This is detailed in Figure 5 .
Kruskal – Wallis ' analysis showed a significant association between the number of years qualified and confidence with intubation ( p < 0.01 ). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons identified a significant difference between the groups ‘ completely confident ’ and ‘ somewhat confident ’ ( p < 0.01 ) and the groups ‘ completely confident ’ and ‘ not very confident ’ ( p < 0.01 ).
CONFIDENCE WITH ENDOTRACHEAL INTUBATION AND THE VETERINARY PROFESSIONAL
Finally , participants were asked how confident they felt with ETT intubation . Of the respondents , 93.2 % ( n = 464 ) of VSs and 57.1 % ( n = 215 ) of VNs felt completely confident with intubation . A further 6.6 % ( n = 33 ) of VSs and 35.9 % ( n = 135 ) of VNs said they were somewhat confident ( Figure 6 ).
The data were tested for an association between respondents ' confidence with intubation ( with four choices ranging from ‘ completely confident ’ to ‘ not at all confident ’) and the type of veterinary professional . Statistical analysis using Fisher ' s exact test , due to low sample size in some groups , identified a significant association between the type of professional and confidence with intubation ( p < 0.01 ).
Discussion
The aim of the study was to establish which airway management methods are commonly used for feline neutering procedures . The overwhelming majority of respondents ( 94.2 %) favoured the use of an ETT for spays . However , only 38.2 % used the same method for castrations . The differing reasons include various factors , but predominantly it was the length of the procedure .
While this study did not explore drug protocols used for feline neutering , which may also alter the choice of airway management method used , the animals would have been anaesthetised to perform the surgical procedures . As anaesthesia is associated with the loss of airway reflexes , maintaining a patent airway , if only to provide oxygen , remains essential [ 3 ] . Additionally , a secured airway is protected from aspiration if regurgitation occurs [ 4 ] . Furthermore , if a volatile agent is used then a secure airway via an ETT or a supraglottic airway device ( SGAD ) should be used to minimise exposure of personnel [ 1 ] .
46 Veterinary Nursing Journal