• Miguel Gozalo-Marcilla, Barbara Steblaj, Stijn Schauvliege, Luc Duchateau, and Frank Gasthuys.
• Department of Surgery and Anaesthesia of Domestic Animals, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Ghent, Merelbeke, Belgium. Electronic address: miguel.gozalomarcilla@UGent.be.
• Res. Vet. Sci. 2013 Dec 1; 95 (3): 1186-94.

AbstractTwenty adult healthy horses undergoing elective surgery were involved in this prospective, blinded, clinical study. Horses were randomly allocated to receive a constant rate infusion (CRI) of morphine or dexmedetomidine. After induction, anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane in oxygen/air and mechanical ventilation applied. The end-tidal isoflurane concentration (FÉISO) was initially set at 0.9% and adjusted by the anaesthetist, to maintain a light surgical plane of anaesthesia, according to an objective flow-chart. The cardiopulmonary function was only minimally different between groups and maintained within clinically normal ranges. Less ketamine was required, FÉISO was lower after 1h and fewer alterations in the anaesthetic depth were needed in horses receiving dexmedetomidine, with better recoveries. One horse receiving morphine developed post-operative colic and pulmonary oedema and two showed box-walking behaviour. This study showed that a dexmedetomidine CRI produced a more stable anaesthetic depth, reduced isoflurane requirements and better recoveries, without post-operative complications compared with a morphine CRI.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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