Behavioral responses following eight anesthetic induction protocols in horses.
Abstract: To compare behavioral characteristics of induction and recovery in horses anesthetized with eight anesthetic drug protocols. Methods: Randomized prospective experimental study. Methods: Eight horses, 5.5 ± 2.4 years (mean ± SD) of age, and weighing 505 ± 31 kg. Methods: After xylazine pre-medication, each of eight horses was anesthetized on four occasions using one of eight different anesthetic induction protocols which incorporated various combinations of ketamine (KET), propofol (PRO), and thiopental (THIO): THIO 8 mg kg; THIO 6 mg kg + PRO 0.5 mg kg; THIO 4 mg kg + PRO 1 mg kg; THIO 2 mg kg + PRO 1.5 mg kg; KET 2 mg kg; KET 1.5 mg kg + PRO 0.5 mg kg; KET 1 mg kg + PRO 1 mg kg; KET 0.5 mg kg + PRO 1.5 mg kg. Quality of induction and recovery were scored from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent), and time taken to achieve lateral recumbency, first movement, sternal recumbency, and standing were evaluated. Results: Time taken to achieve lateral recumbency after drug administration differed significantly (p < 0.0001) among the various combinations, being shortest in horses receiving THIO-8 (mean ± SD, 0.5 ± 0.3 minutes) and longest in horses receiving KET-2 (1.4 ± 0.2 minutes). The best scores for induction quality were associated with KET-1.5 + PRO-0.5, and the worst scores for induction quality were associated with KET-2, although the difference was not significant. Time to first movement varied significantly among drug protocols (p = 0.0133), being shortest in horses receiving KET-2 (12.7 ± 3.6 minutes) and longest in horses receiving THIO-8 (29.9 ± 1.5 minutes). Horses receiving THIO-8 made the greatest number of attempts to attain sternal posture (6.5 ± 4.7) and to stand (1.6 ± 0.8). Horses in the THIO-8 treatment also received the poorest recovery scores (3.3 ± 1.0 and 3.0 ± 0.7 for sternal and standing postures, respectively). The best recovery scores were associated with combinations comprised mainly of propofol. Conclusions: Combining propofol with either ketamine or thiopental modifies behaviors associated with use of the individual drugs. Conclusions: Quality of early anesthesia recovery in horses may be improved by some combinations of propofol with either thiopental or ketamine.
Copyright © 2002 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2016-11-15 PubMed ID: 28404364DOI: 10.1046/j.1467-2995.2002.00093.xGoogle Scholar: Lookup
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- Journal Article
Summary
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The research article discusses an experimental study comparing the effects of eight different anesthetic drug protocols on the induction and recovery behaviors of horses. The findings suggest that combining propofol with either ketamine or thiopental alters behaviors associated with using each drug independently and may enhance early anesthesia recovery in horses.
Study Methodology
- The study was a randomized prospective experimental trial involving eight horses of an average age of 5.5 years and average weight of 505 kg.
- The horses were pre-medicated with xylazine and then anesthetized on four separate occasions with one of eight different anesthetics induction protocols. These protocols incorporated various combinations of ketamine (KET), propofol (PRO), and thiopental (THIO).
- The quality of induction and recovery were scored on a scale from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). The time to achieve lateral recumbency, first movement, sternal recumbency, and standing were also evaluated.
Results Summary
- The time required for horses to achieve lateral recumbency after drug administration varied significantly among the different protocols. It was shortest in horses receiving THIO-8 protocol and longest in those receiving KET-2 protocol.
- The highest induction quality scores were associated with KET-1.5 + PRO-0.5 protocol, whereas the worst scores were associated with KET-2 protocol. However, this difference wasn’t significant statistically.
- The time to first movement varied significantly depending on the drug protocol with horses receiving KET-2 making their first move the soonest and those receiving THIO-8 being the slowest.
- Horses receiving THIO-8 made the most attempts to attain sternal posture and to stand.
- The poorest recovery scores were associated with the THIO-8 treatment, whereas the best recovery scores were connected with propofol-dominant combinations.
Conclusions
- Combining propofol with either ketamine or thiopental modifies behaviors associated with the use of each drug individually.
- The quality of early anesthesia recovery in horses could be potentially improved by certain combinations of propofol with either thiopental or ketamine.
Cite This Article
APA
Wagner AE, Mama KR, Steffey EP, Brevard LF, Hellyer PW.
(2016).
Behavioral responses following eight anesthetic induction protocols in horses.
Vet Anaesth Analg, 29(4), 207-211.
https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1467-2995.2002.00093.x Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Electronic address: aewagner@lamar.colostate.edu.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
- Department of Surgical and Radiological Sciences (Steffey), School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
- Veterinary Teaching Hospital, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
- Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
Citations
This article has been cited 2 times.- Gozalo-Marcilla M, Ringer SK. Recovery after General Anaesthesia in Adult Horses: A Structured Summary of the Literature.. Animals (Basel) 2021 Jun 14;11(6).
- Tokushige H, Araki M, Kusano K, Arima D, Ito H, Yamazaki Y, Urayama S, Kambayashi Y, Tateno O, Ohta M. A retrospective comparison of induction with thiopental/guaifenesin and propofol/ketamine in Thoroughbred racehorses anesthetized with sevoflurane and medetomidine during arthroscopic surgery.. J Equine Sci 2019 Jul;30(2):25-31.
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