Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Postanesthetic hemorrhagic myelopathy in a horse.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 1986
- Authors:
- Yovich, J V et al.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 1-year-old Quarter Horse colt developed a serious condition called postanesthetic hemorrhagic myelopathy after being castrated while lying on his back under general anesthesia. After the surgery, he showed signs of severe spinal cord issues, particularly in the neck and upper back areas. A closer look at his spinal cord revealed bleeding in the tissue, likely caused by changes in blood flow during the surgery and his position. This condition can happen in young horses that are growing quickly when they are placed on their backs for anesthesia. In this case, the treatment and management of the situation were necessary due to the complications that arose.
Abstract
Acute hemorrhagic myelopathy developed in the sixth cervical to the eighth thoracic spinal cord segments of a 1-year-old Quarter Horse colt that was castrated under general anesthesia while in dorsal recumbency. Clinical signs were consistent with severe transverse myelopathy caudal to the brachial enlargement and cranial to the lumbosacral enlargement of the spinal cord. Histologic examination of the spinal cord revealed hemorrhage in the gray matter, with multiple blood-filled clefts in otherwise normal neuropil. Hemodynamic changes in the spinal cord associated with anesthesia and dorsal recumbency may have led to hypoxic vessel damage, with massive hemorrhage after surgery, when the horse was returned to lateral recumbency. Postanesthetic hemorrhagic myelopathy is a possible complication of positioning in dorsal recumbency, during anesthesia, in rapidly growing, young horses.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3949606/