Oct 12, 2021

February 23, 2022: ER Procedures for Veterinary Technicians

An emergency! What do I do? In this VETgirl veterinary technician webinar, Courtney Waxman, MS, CVT, RVT, VTS (ECC), reviews common procedures performed in the emergency and critical care setting that should be performed by veterinary technicians/technologists. Tune in to learn when and how to do these common ER procedures including nasal oxygen cannula placement, nasal feeding tube placement, urinary catheterization, central venous access, and arterial access.

Oct 11, 2021

The utility of bile acids in dogs with liver disease

In this VETgirl online veterinary continuing education podcast, we discuss the utility of bile acid measurements in dogs with various forms of liver disease. Serum bile acids (SBAs) are a common diagnostic test performed in small animal medicine, primarily used to assess liver function. As you know, bile acids are typically measured by performing two separate blood draws. They are first measured with the dog fasted, followed by a postprandial measurement taken 2 hours after eating. The postprandial measurement offers even more sensitive detection of abnormalities, in that clearance of bile acids is challenged by the surge that occurs from eating. When we observe abnormally elevated bile acid levels, there are three broad categories of problems this could indicate. One is liver dysfunction, as bile acids are not being cleared effectively by the liver itself. The second is abnormal blood flow, such as a portosystemic shunt. In this scenario, bile acids are bypassing the liver, and thereby not being cleared from the bloodstream. Lastly, bile stasis for any reason can result in elevated serum bile acids, due to impared excretion. While measurement of SBAs may help identify that a problem is present and offer a sense of the severity of the problem, the assay is less helpful in defining what the underlying problem actually is. So, Pena-Ramos et al sought to compare fasted and postprandial SBAs and to determine their sensitivity and specificity in the context of different types of liver disease in dogs.

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