A Wellington animal hospital has invested more than £25,000 to advance its targeted anaesthesia care for pets.

Linnaeus-owned Cave Veterinary Specialists, based near Wellington in Somerset, has introduced a £15,000 Mindray TE5 ultrasound scanner and spent more than £10,000 on additional training for its anaesthesia team.

The investment is expected to keep the practice at the forefront of anaesthesia care, particularly locoregional, or nerve block, anaesthesia.

Cave anaesthetist Pippa Tucker said: "We are all excited by the arrival of the hi-tech Mindray TE5 ultrasound scanner, which includes many technological advances compared to our previous scanners, several that are designed specifically for locoregional anaesthesia.

"Ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia is a rapidly-developing field and is the most up-to-date technique for providing safe and effective regional anaesthesia in humans and veterinary patients."

The new tech in action (Image: Cave Veterinary Specialists) The scanner helps the anaesthetist see the nerves they are targeting, as well as the anatomy around those nerves, allowing them to closely target the nerves that need to be numbed and safely avoid other structures such as blood vessels.

Ms Tucker added: "The new scanner gives us excellent image quality and needle visualisation to increase confidence in identifying and targeting the correct anatomy.

"It’s a huge advance in dealing with cases requiring orthopaedic surgery, such as fractures or a Tibial Plateau Levelling Osteotomy, in abdominal and thoracic surgery and also in maxillofacial surgery.

"We now routinely have cases that do not require strong opioid pain relief after major surgery or procedures because of these successful nerve blocks."

All three of Cave’s anaesthetists have completed an intensive, three-day course in ultrasound-guided techniques, and three of the four anaesthesia nurses have attended a two-day course, with their fourth nurse attending this year.

Ms Tucker said the team's extra training and increased capabilities are already making a huge difference to the hospital’s patients.

She noted: "Our intensive training in ultrasound-guided techniques means our team is skilled and confident in the most up-to-date techniques for providing these blocks.

"It is very rewarding to see our anaesthesia nurses given the opportunity to develop their skills and perform these procedures.

"Their commitment to advanced anaesthesia training has allowed them to learn techniques which very few nurses and vets in the UK have the opportunity to learn.

"Since our training we have all noticed a huge improvement in both the team’s confidence and success in providing increasingly complex regional nerve blocks."

For more information on Cave Veterinary Specialists, visit https://cave-vet-specialists.co.uk.