Let's save the planet one anaesthetic at a time – Low-Flow Anaesthesia

In veterinary medicine, anaesthesia is mainly maintained through the administration of volatile anaesthetic agents. Since 1975, Sevoflurane, Isoflurane, Desflurane and Nitrous Oxide are recognised as greenhouse gases, contributing to the global warming effect when released into the atmosphere.
The concept of low-flow anaesthesia is not recent and has been proven, over the last decade, to have a significant impact on reducing oxygen and volatile anaesthetic agent consumption. However, despite the clinical evidence, this technique is still not widely applied in veterinary practices for several reasons. In this talk, we will demystify low-flow anaesthesia and understand how we can reduce the environmental impact of our anaesthetics by decreasing the fresh gas flow without compromising patients' safety.

• - Understand the environmental impact of the different volatile anaesthetic agents
• - Understand the use of low-flow anaesthesia as a tool to decrease the environmental pollution caused by volatile anaesthesia
• - When and how to use low-flow anaesthesia without compromising the patient safety