How to: Cope with Traumatic Incidents in Recovery

The bang of a long bone fracturing in recovery is an unforgettable sound but thankfully traumatic incidents during anaesthetic recovery are rare. When injuries occur it is very important that the situation is dealt with in a calm and careful manner to ensure that the horse is properly examined before a decision is made on treatment and in some cases euthanasia.

Chemical restraint
The horse that is partly recovered from general anaesthesia is ataxic and disorientated and therefore a dangerous animal to examine. In many cases when a traumatic incident has occurred the horse is recumbent but fractious. Frequently the area that you would like to examine is underneath the animal. For these reasons chemical restraint is often required in order to safely and thoroughly examine the animal, particularly the limbs. Alpha-2 agonists are very useful and the author’s preference is for xylazine given its relatively short duration of action. Although α2 agonists will quieten the horse and allow an initial examination, in many cases it is preferable to induce anaesthesia. Anaesthesia allows repositioning using a hoist and will significantly reduce the horse’s distress, calming the situation. Anaesthesia may be induced with ketamine or thiopentone and maintained within either gaseous anaesthesia following intubation or intravenous pop-ups. [...]