The effects of xylazine or detomidine when used as a pre-anesthetic sedative on recovery quality and duration in horses undergoing elective equine castration

Can Vet J. 2021 Sep;62(9):982-986.ABSTRACTThe purpose of this prospective, blinded, randomized clinical trial was to compare the effects of low dose detomidine to xylazine on recovery quality and duration in a castration procedure. Horses were administered either detomidine [0.015 mg/kg body weight (BW)] or xylazine (1.1 mg/kg BW) intravenously (IV) before IV induction with ketamine (2.2 mg/kg BW) and diazepam (0.05 mg/kg BW). Two anesthesiologists who were unaware of treatment allocation scored the recoveries using a simple descriptive scale (with a low number representing the most desirable recovery) and recoveries were timed. Horses in the detomidine group (n = 16) had a median recovery score of 16 (range: 11 to 26), whereas horses in the xylazine group (n = 12) had a median recovery score of 12 (range: 10 to 16) (P = 0.001). There was no difference in surgery time (P = 0.52), time from the end of surgery to standing (P = 0.45), or time from induction to standing (P = 0.48) between the groups.PMID:34475584 | PMC:PMC8360303
Source: The Canadian Veterinary Journal - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Source Type: research