Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Horses breathing against ventilator - could it be a valve issue?
By Baxter, G M et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1991·Department of Large Animal Medicine, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Severe hypercarbia resulting from inspiratory valve malfunction in two anesthetized horses.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In two adult horses that were under anesthesia for surgery, a serious condition called severe hypercarbia (which means they had too much carbon dioxide in their blood) was discovered through blood tests. Even though the horses seemed to be properly anesthetized, they were still trying to breathe on their own against the ventilator. It turned out that a valve in the anesthesia machine was stuck open, allowing carbon dioxide that should have been expelled to be inhaled again. Once the valve was fixed, the horses' condition improved. This situation highlights the importance of checking the anesthesia machine if an anesthetized horse is having trouble breathing and shows signs of high carbon dioxide levels.
Abstract
Severe hypercarbia was documented by arterial blood gas analysis in 2 adult horses anesthetized for exploratory laparotomy. Both horses appeared to be adequately anesthetized, but continued to breathe against the ventilator. In both cases, the inspiratory valve on the anesthesia machine was found to be stuck open, permitting expired CO2 to return to the inspiratory limb of the anesthetic circuit and to be inhaled with the next breath. Correction of the malfunctioning valve alleviated the hypercarbia. Problems with the flow valves of the anesthesia machine should be suspected when anesthetized horses breathe against the ventilator and develop severe hypercarbia.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1995568/