Volume 25, Issue 2

The following is a printed version of a renowned presentation by A.H. “Buddy” Giesecke of Dallas, whose professional life has brought him into contact with some very well known individuals with occasionally unique anesthetic requirements.

The presentation has been edited and modified with permission from the Audio Digest Foundation to be placed in the TSA Bulletin.

One of the most remarkable experiences occurred at Parkland Hospital on noon, November 22, 1963, when President Kennedy arrived and I participated to a limited extent in his resuscitation. I subsequently anesthetized Governor Connolly for his exploratory thoracotomy, and all of these patients were exciting.

The one that I want to tell you about has no national reputation, although she is well known around Dallas. The patient is eleven years old, four and one half feet tall, weighs 225 pounds, and has an arm spread of eighty-one inches. She is one of the three gorillas who lived at that time in the Dallas Zoo. On the twenty-first of June, 1965, Dr. Charles Sloan and I were contacted by Dr. Jack Brundrett, the veterinarian at the Dallas Zoo, who complained that for the past eight days, Jenny had been vomiting, had no oral intake and that for seven days, she had no stools in her cage. For the past four days, there was no urine in her cage. He made the tentative diagnosis of an intestinal obstruction with extra cellular fluid deficit and recommended she have various diagnostic procedures followed if necessary by exploratory laparotomy. Because of the animal’s rather hostile personality, he felt that general anesthesia would be necessary for both the diagnostic procedures and for the operation. Accordingly, Dr. Charles Sloan and I gathered up a large collection of airway equipment and an old Heidbrink anesthesia machine, all of which we loaded in the back of a Falcon station wagon. We set off with fear and trembling for the Dallas Zoo.

When we arrived, the animal was obviously lethargic, dozing in the corner, until someone approached the cage, at which time she rose and greeted us with several loud growls. She was in a holding cage, which was to the rear of the usual public display cages. The holding cage had one movable wall by which animals can be compressed against the opposite wall and held for minor treatments and medications. The cage was compressed and 200 mg of Tranvet (which is propionylpromazine) was given intramuscularly with a long needle.

Now, veterinarians test for adequate tranquilization of primates by what they call a lip test. The lip is flipped with a finger, and if it is retracted by the animal, the animal is considered not to be sufficiently tranquilized to be handled. However, if the lip is not retracted and is insensitive, then it is considered that the animal is safe to handle. The propionylpromazine was given at 3:30 in the afternoon and the lip test became negative at 4:00. Dr. Charles Sloan, then armed with an IV needle and a bottle of fluid, entered the cage along with three or four zoo attendants. I was supporting the bottle.

A tourniquet was placed on the gorilla’s arm and at the first needle puncture, she raised her arm up over her head and growled. In the scramble to get out of the cage, we dropped the IV fluid. One of the attendants developed a crick in his neck when he jerked to the side and headed for the door. It was felt wiser to pull the arm out of the cage and secure it with ropes, which were held by attendants. And the IV was finally successfully started 40 minutes later, in the left arm.

I might point out that although gorillas are very clean animals and have almost no animal odor to them, their skin is very thick and their veins are deeply placed. Starting an IV in this gorilla was somewhat like starting an IV in the foot with a shoe still on.

Once the IV was started, we gave three liters of normal saline at a fairly rapid rate before we gave any additional depressive drugs. At that time we gave thiopental in small, incremental doses of 40-60 mg until a total of 600 mg had been given. It was felt safe to enter the cage and move the gorilla onto the