Bacteraemia before, during and after tooth extraction in horses in the absence of antimicrobial administration.

This study provides findings on how transient bacteraemia, the presence of bacteria in the blood, often occurs during dental extraction in horses. This is compared with the types of bacteria found in the extracted teeth. Despite this common occurrence, the clinical significance of postoperative bacteraemia remains unclear as no complications associated with it were observed.

Methodology

• The research team conducted a prospective, observational study where they collected blood from 20 adult horses before, during, and after the oral extraction of teeth.
• None of the animals had received any antimicrobial agents for at least four weeks before the surgery.
• The blood was cultured aseptically and the bacteria found were compared with those found in swab samples taken from the extracted teeth.

Findings

• Out of the 20 horses, 18 had positive blood culture at one or more time points, suggesting that transient bacteraemia commonly occurs during dental extraction in horses.
• Most of the bacteria found in the blood and tooth swab samples belonged to the Streptococcus spp., Actinomyces spp., Fusobacterium spp., and Prevotella spp. species.
• The species of bacteria isolated from the teeth samples largely corresponded with those identified in the blood cultures.

Limitations and Implications

• The study was limited by its use of only conventional bacterial culture methods and did not consider statistical analysis to explore possible associations between gingiva score and the occurrence of bacteraemia.
• The study also lacked an age-matched control group of horses not undergoing exodontia, which could affect the generalizability of the study’s findings.
• In terms of clinical implication, the significance of the occurrence of bacteraemia post-surgery remains uncertain, as none of the horses developed complications associated with bacteraemia during the observation period after surgery.