Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Repetitive injectable anesthesia in a 27-year-old horse.
- Journal:
- The Cornell veterinarian
- Year:
- 1993
- Authors:
- Matthews, N S et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 27-year-old horse underwent anesthesia three times a week for four weeks to receive cobalt therapy for a type of skin cancer located in the left side of its face. Because of facility limitations, the horse had to be transported while under anesthesia, so injectable anesthesia was chosen. Initially, the horse was given a combination of two drugs to help with the anesthesia, but after three sessions, the dose of one drug was lowered, and the other was removed. The anesthesia lasted between 10 to 45 minutes, and the horse took between 23 to 76 minutes to start waking up and between 55 to 105 minutes to stand up again. Remarkably, despite the horse's age and the potential risks of repeated anesthesia, there were no complications noted during the treatment.
Abstract
A 27-year-old horse was anesthetized 3 times a week for 4 weeks, to facilitate cobalt therapy of a squamous cell carcinoma in the left paranasal sinus. Limitations of facilities required transport of the anesthetized horse to and from the cobalt therapy room, therefore, injectable anesthesia was used. Initially, the horse was preanesthetized with xylazine (at 1.1 mg/kg IV) and butorphanol (0.04 mg/kg IV). After 3 anesthetic episodes, the xylazine dose was reduced to 0.4 mg/kg IV and the butorphanol was deleted from the regimen. Tiletamine-zolazepam (1.1 mg/kg IV) was used for induction and maintenance of anesthesia (although on 2 occasions a bolus of ketamine was used to maintain immobility). The length of the procedure varied from 10-45 minutes, and the recovery times to sternal and standing varied from 23-76 and 55-105 minutes respectively. Although numerous complications might be expected given the age of this horse and the physiologic and metabolic demands of repetitive injectable anesthetics, none were observed.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8403921/