Metabolic changes associated with anaesthesia and cherry poisoning in a pony.

This research discusses a case of a pony suffering from fatal cyanide poisoning after eating cherries and undergoing general anesthesia for colic surgery, with symptoms like severe metabolic lactate acidosis, high arterial oxygen partial pressure, fine peripheral perfusion parameters, and severe hypothermia during recovery. The case ended with the pony’s euthanization due to neurological signs, with cyanide intoxication diagnosed post-mortem.

Case Presentation

• The paper discusses a particular case of a pony that was severely intoxicated with cyanide because of cherry ingestion. This has been presented in an aim to highlight the potential dangers of cherry consumption in ponies.

Medical Procedures

• The pony had to be placed under general anaesthesia for a colic surgery. The necessity of the surgery isn’t elaborated in the abstract, but colic surgery is usually performed in horses when there’s a serious digestive issue that can’t be treated with less invasive methods.

Symptoms and Signs

• During the anaesthesia, the pony showed unusual signs like severe metabolic lactate acidosis. This is a condition where lactic acid builds up in the bloodstream faster than the body can remove it. Such a buildup can indicate decreased oxygen levels or poor tissue oxygenation.
• The pony also showed high arterial oxygen partial pressure which is a measure of the concentration of oxygen in the blood and good peripheral perfusion parameters which relate to the blood flow to the body’s extremities.
• The pony presented with severe hypothermia during recovery – a dangerously low body temperature.

Diagnosis and Outcome

• The pony was euthanized about ten hours after the surgery due to the development of neurological signs, indicating a severe impact on the central nervous system.
• The confirmation of cyanide intoxication in the pony, which ultimately led to its death, was made only post-mortem, emphasizing the difficulty in diagnosing cyanide poisoning in early stages.

Conclusion

• The research concludes that ingestion of cherries can lead to lethal cases of cyanide intoxication in horses. Severe non-hypoxic lactic acidosis during anaesthesia could be a significant indicator of such poisoning.