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- Author or Editor: Wendy Ray-Miller x
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Abstract
Objective—To compare recoveries from anesthesia of horses placed on a conventional padded stall floor or on a specially designed air pillow.
Design—Prospective study.
Animals—409 horses (> 1 year old) that were anesthetized for surgical procedures during a 37-month period.
Procedures—By random allocation, horses were allowed to recover from anesthesia in either a foammat–padded recovery stall or an identical recovery stall equipped with a rapidly inflating-deflating air pillow. All recoveries were videotaped for subsequent analysis by an independent evaluator. Times to first movement, first attempt to attain sternal recumbency, attainment of sternal recumbency, first attempt to stand, and successful standing were recorded. The numbers of attempts before achieving sternal recumbency and standing were counted, and scores for quality of standing and overall recovery were assigned. Recovery-related variables were compared between groups.
Results—Compared with horses allowed to recover in a conventional manner, horses that recovered from anesthesia on the air pillow had a significantly longer rest period before attempting to attain sternal recumbency and rise to standing. Once the pillow was deflated, horses were able to stand after significantly fewer attempts and the quality of their standing was significantly better. Between the 2 groups of horses, there was no significant difference in overall recovery quality scores. The air pillow and padded floor systems were equally safe.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that use of a rapidly inflating-deflating air pillow promotes a longer period of recumbency and a better quality of standing after anesthesia in horses.
Abstract
Objective—To determine hyaluronan concentrations in peritoneal fluid from healthy horses and horses with sudden signs of severe abdominal pain and to identify the cellular sources of hyaluronan within the peritoneal cavity.
Animals—7 client-owned horses that were evaluated for sudden signs of severe abdominal pain, 6 healthy teaching horses, and 13 euthanized horses (11 with no abdominal disease and 2 that had undergone abdominal surgery 2 weeks previously for a different study).
Procedures—Abdominal fluid was collected from the client-owned and teaching horses. Hyaluronan concentrations were determined with an ELISA. Equine mesothelial cells were aseptically harvested from euthanized horses immediately after euthanasia, cultured, and processed for western blot immunoassays to detect expression of the following mesothelial cell markers: cytokeratins 8 and 18, vimentin, calretinin, mesothelin, and CD44. A reverse transcriptase–PCR assay was used to detect genetic expression of hyaluronan synthase-2 (HAS-2) from cultured and native equine tissue.
Results—The mean ± SD abdominal hyaluronan concentration in peritoneal fluid from horses with signs of abdominal pain (1,203.3 ± 46.3 ng/mL) was significantly greater than that in healthy horses (228.4 ± 167.3 ng/mL). Harvested cells were maintained, and immunoblotting analyses confirmed expression of the mesothelial markers. Gene expression of HAS-2 from cultured mesothelial cells and fibroblasts was confirmed.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Peritoneal hyaluronan concentration was much higher in horses with severe abdominal pain than in healthy horses. Cultured equine mesothelial cells and fibroblasts can produce hyaluronan through HAS-2. Future investigation should focus on establishing the effect of exogenous hyaluronan administration on mesothelial cell function in horses with abdominal disease.
