Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Hemorrhagic myelomalacia following general anesthesia in a horse.
- Journal:
- The Cornell veterinarian
- Year:
- 1993
- Authors:
- Lerche, E et al.
- Affiliation:
- Faculte de Medecine Veterinaire · Canada
Plain-English summary
An 18-month-old male Belgian horse was put under general anesthesia for a surgery to remove an undescended testicle. During the procedure, the horse experienced some heart rhythm issues, shallow breathing, and a temporary spike in blood pressure. After waking up from anesthesia, he couldn't use his back legs properly and could only sit up like a dog. Sadly, he was euthanized about 22 hours later because he didn't get any better, and tests showed serious damage to his spinal cord.
Abstract
An 18-month-old male Belgian horse was anesthetized and placed in dorsal recumbency for cryptorchidectomy. Xylazine was used for sedation and guaifenesin with thiamylal for induction of anesthesia. A surgical plane of anesthesia was maintained with halothane. During anesthesia, second-degree atrio-ventricular blocks, hypoventilation and a 1-minute duration rise of mean arterial pressure (80 to 130 mm Hg) occurred. Total anesthesia time was 1 hour. On recovery from anesthesia, the horse exhibited flaccid paralysis of the hind limbs and was only able to elevate himself to a dog sitting position. The horse was humanely euthanized 22 hours postoperatively due to a lack of improvement in clinical signs. Hemorrhagic poliomyelomalacic lesions of the spinal cord were observed on histopathological examination of the spinal cord.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7905814/