Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Severe phenylephrine-associated hemorrhage in five aged horses.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 2010
- Authors:
- Frederick, Jeremy et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In a study involving five older horses, all at least 17 years old, they experienced severe internal bleeding after receiving a medication called phenylephrine. This bleeding, which affected their chest or abdomen, occurred within minutes to hours after the treatment. Unfortunately, four of the horses died from shock due to the bleeding, while one horse survived after receiving a blood transfusion. The researchers found that older horses, those 15 years and older, were significantly more likely to suffer from this dangerous side effect compared to younger horses. This highlights the need for careful consideration of the risks and benefits of using phenylephrine in older horses.
Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION: 5 aged (≥ 17 years old) horses developed life-threatening Internal hemorrhage following IV administration of phenylephrine at 3 hospitals. CLINICAL FINDINGS: All 5 horses developed severe hemothorax, hemoabdomen, or both within minutes to hours following administration of phenylephrine. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME: Four of 5 horses died of hemorrhagic shock, and 1 horse survived with a blood transfusion. The exact source of hemorrhage was Identified In only 1 horse. Medical records of all horses with nephrosplenic entrapment of the large colon and treated with phenylephrine at the University of Florida Veterinary Medical Center between 2000 and 2008 (n = 74) were reviewed. Three of these 74 (4%) horses developed fatal hemorrhage (horses 1 through 3 of this report). The risk of developing phenylephrine-associated hemorrhage was 64 times as high (95% confidence interval, 3.7 to 1,116) in horses ≥ 15 years old than in horses < 15 years old. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The potential risks versus benefits of phenylephrine administration should be evaluated carefully, especially In old horses.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20919849/