Partial intravenous anaesthesia in the horse: a review of intravenous agents used to supplement equine inhalation anaesthesia. Part 2: opioids and alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists

Gozalo-Marcilla, M and Gasthuys, F and Schauvliege, S

Vet Anaesth Analg (2015) 42: 1–16

DOI: 10.1111/vaa.12196

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature with regard to the use of different intravenous agents as supplements to inhalational anaesthesia in horses. The Part 2 of this review will focus in the use of opioids and alpha2 -agonists. DATABASES USED: Pubmed and Web of Science. Search terms: horse, inhalant anaesthesia, balanced anaesthesia, partial intravenous anaesthesia, opioids, morphine, pethidine, butorphanol, methadone, fentanyl, alfentanil, remifentanil, sufentanil, xylazine, romifidine, detomidine, medetomidine and dexmedetomidine. CONCLUSIONS: Different drugs and their combinations can be administered systemically in anaesthetized horses aiming to reduce the amount of the volatile agent while improving the recovery qualities and providing a multimodal analgesic approach. However, full studies as to whether these techniques improve cardiopulmonary status are not always available and potential disadvantages should also be considered.

Citation

Gozalo-Marcilla, M., Gasthuys, F., & Schauvliege, S. (2015). Partial intravenous anaesthesia in the horse: a review of intravenous agents used to supplement equine inhalation anaesthesia. Part 2: opioids and alpha-2 adrenoceptor agonists. Vet Anaesth Analg, 42(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1111/vaa.12196 Horses, [Indexed using CAB Thesaurus terms]

Keywords

• Horses
• [Indexed using CAB Thesaurus terms]