Recovery from general anaesthesia is the last step towards regaining consciousness. When a fatal incident occurs during general anaesthesia, it happens in the recovery phase in 50–80% of dogs and cats. As such, planning and preparation for this often-neglected phase of general anaesthesia is important. Getting the recovery environment right by providing a quiet area where patients can be monitored by a designated member of staff as required is a good starting point. Care should be taken to provide comfort by optimising the analgesia plan, temperature management and general patient management (bladder care, positioning, padding).
Deutsch et al. (Fri,) studied this question.