Abstract
BackgroundMuscle metabolism in horses has been studied mainly by analysis of substances in blood or plasma and muscle biopsy specimens. By using microdialysis, real-time monitoring of the metabolic events in local tissue with a minimum of trauma is possible. There is limited information about muscle metabolism in the early recovery period after anaesthesia in horses and especially in the colic horse. The aims were to evaluate the microdialysis technique as a complement to plasma analysis and to study the concentration changes in lactate, pyruvate, glucose, glycerol, and urea during anaesthesia and in the recovery period in colic horses undergoing abdominal surgery and in healthy horses not subjected to surgery.MethodsTen healthy university-owned horses given anaesthesia alone and ten client-owned colic horses subjected to emergency abdominal surgery were anaesthetised for a mean (range) of 230 min (193–273) and 208 min (145–300) respectively. Venous blood samples were taken before anaesthesia. Venous blood sampling and microdialysis in the gluteal muscle were performed during anaesthesia and until 24 h after anaesthesia. Temporal changes and differences between groups were analysed with an ANOVA for repeated measures followed by Tukey Post Hoc test or Planned Comparisons.ResultsLactate, glucose and urea, in both dialysate and plasma, were higher in the colic horses than in the healthy horses for several hours after recovery to standing. In the colic horses, lactate, glucose, and urea in dialysate, and lactate in plasma increased during the attempts to stand. The lactate-to-pyruvate ratio was initially high in sampled colic horses but decreased over time. In the colic horses, dialysate glycerol concentrations varied considerably whereas in the healthy horses, dialysate glycerol was elevated during anaesthesia but decreased after standing. In both groups, lactate concentration was higher in dialysate than in plasma. The correspondence between dialysate and plasma concentrations of glucose, urea and glycerol varied.ConclusionMicrodialysis proved to be suitable in the clinical setting for monitoring of the metabolic events during anaesthesia and recovery. It was possible with this technique to show greater muscle metabolic alterations in the colic horses compared to the healthy horses in response to regaining the standing position.
Highlights
Muscle metabolism in horses has been studied mainly by analysis of substances in blood or plasma and muscle biopsy specimens
Our group has used the microdialysis technique and sampling of muscle biopsies and found that anaesthesia in healthy horses was associated with an increased production of muscle lactate and decreased content of ATP indicating anaerobic metabolism [12,13]
The material presented below is part of a larger study investigating metabolic changes in plasma and muscle biopsy specimens up to seven days after recovery from anaesthesia, in 20 colic horses subjected to emergency abdominal surgery as opposed to in 20 healthy horses subjected to prolonged anaesthesia in dorsal recumbency [20]
Summary
Muscle metabolism in horses has been studied mainly by analysis of substances in blood or plasma and muscle biopsy specimens. The aims were to evaluate the microdialysis technique as a complement to plasma analysis and to study the concentration changes in lactate, pyruvate, glucose, glycerol, and urea during anaesthesia and in the recovery period in colic horses undergoing abdominal surgery and in healthy horses not subjected to surgery. Our group has used the microdialysis technique and sampling of muscle biopsies and found that anaesthesia in healthy horses was associated with an increased production of muscle lactate and decreased content of ATP indicating anaerobic metabolism [12,13]. This may be related to general or local hypoperfusion [14,15,16]
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