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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Pony didn't wake up after surgery - how atipamezole helped

By Di Concetto, Stefano et al.·Published in Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia·2007·The Royal Veterinary College, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed

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Original publication title: Atipamezole in the management of detomidine overdose in a pony.

Species:
horse

Plain-English summary

A pony undergoing surgery accidentally received too much detomidine, a sedative, and did not wake up as expected after anesthesia. The veterinarian recognized the overdose and treated it with atipamezole, a medication that reverses the effects of detomidine. After receiving a total of 1100 micrograms of atipamezole, the pony was able to stand again. A follow-up dose was given later to manage mild sedation, and the pony recovered well.

People also search for: pony anesthesia overdose treatment · atipamezole for detomidine reversal · pony surgery sedation issues

Abstract

OBSERVATIONS: A pony undergoing elective castration accidentally received an overdose of IV detomidine (200 microg kg(-1)) before anaesthesia was induced with ketamine and midazolam. A further 100 microg kg(-1) IV dose of detomidine was administered during anaesthesia. The mistake was recognized only when the animal failed to recover from anaesthesia in the expected time. The overdose (300 microg kg(-1) in total) was treated successfully with atipamezole, initially given IV and subsequently IM and titrated to effect to a total dose of 1100 microg kg(-1). The pony regained the standing position. A further injection of atipamezole (76 microg kg(-1) IM) was given 5 hours later to counteract slight signs of re-sedation. CONCLUSIONS: Atipamezole proved an effective antagonist for detomidine in a pony at an initial dose 3.65 x and a final total dose 3.9 x greater than the alpha2 agonist.

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Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17238965/