References
Effect of temperament on recovery in isoflurane-anaesthetised horses
Abstract
Background:
Recovery is a crucial phase of equine anaesthesia and factors influencing recovery quality are an active area of research.
Aim:
To investigate the effect of temperament on recovery score after isoflurane-anaesthesia in 30 adult horses undergoing elective surgery.
Methods:
Two veterinarians used a numerical rating scale to score each horse's response to five tests as a gauge of temperament. Owners used a numerical rating scale to score their horse's temperament according to seven behaviour-related questions. Horses underwent elective surgery under general anaesthesia using a standardised protocol. Recovery was recorded and scored by a blinded assessor using the simple descriptive scale for scoring recovery (R1) and the Edinburgh system (R2).
Findings:
There was no correlation between veterinarian or owner-assessed temperament and recovery score. Veterinary-assessed temperament score was negatively correlated with pre-induction romifidine and total romifidine dose. Both recovery scores were negatively correlated with anaesthetic duration and R1 was positively correlated with time to first movement in recovery.
Conclusions:
Temperament did not influence recovery score in our population of horses.
Equine peri-anaesthetic mortality is reported to be between 0.12 and 0.9% in horses undergoing elective procedures (Bidwell et al, 2007; Dugdale et al, 2016). While the overall peri-anaesthetic mortality rate has changed very little over the last 20 years, intra-operative mortalities attributable to cardiac arrest have significantly decreased, possibly as a result of the replacement of halothane with agents less depressant to the cardiovascular system (Dugdale et al, 2016). Peri-anaesthetic mortality occurs most frequently in the recovery period, which is one of the least controllable periods (Bidwell et al, 2007; Dugdale et al, 2016). During recovery, fractures and dislocations have reportedly been responsible for 71% of all anaesthesia-related fatalities (Young and Taylor, 1993; Bidwell et al, 2007; Dugdale et al, 2016). Furthermore, poor recovery quality is known to increase the risk of peri-anaesthetic mortality (Laurenza et al, 2020). Factors known to influence recovery include:
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting UK-VET Equine and reading some of our peer-reviewed content for veterinary professionals. To continue reading this article, please register today.