Rethinking equine anaesthetic risk: Development of a novel Combined Horse Anaesthetic Risk Identification and Optimisation tool (CHARIOT)

Abstract

SummaryThe most widely used method of assessing the physical status of humans presented for anaesthesia is the American Society of Anaesthesiologists Physical Status Classification System (ASA‐PS). The ASA‐PS has been applied to animals including horses, but its use is problematic. The authors virtually convened a group of internationally recognised equine veterinary anaesthesiologists with the goal of developing a risk assessment tool for the evaluation of healthy and diseased horses presented for anaesthesia. With this survey and analysis, the authors aim to develop a simple rubric system to assess equine anaesthetic risk that augments the ASA‐PS system. The goal is to identify both diseased and healthy horses at increased anaesthetic risk prior to induction of anaesthesia so that measures might be implemented to potentially reduce morbidity and mortality.