Total intravenous anaesthesia with ketamine, medetomidine and guaifenesin compared with ketamine, medetomidine and midazolam in young horses anaesthetised for computerised tomography.

Abstract

There is no information directly comparing midazolam with guaifenesin when used in combination with an alpha-2 agonist and ketamine to maintain anaesthesia via i.v. infusion in horses. To compare ketamine-medetomidine-guaifenesin with ketamine-medetomidine-midazolam for total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) in young horses anaesthetised for computerised tomography. Prospective, randomised, blinded, crossover trial. Fourteen weanlings received medetomidine 7μg/kg bwt i.v. and anaesthesia was induced with ketamine 2.2mg/kgbwt i.v. On two separate occasions horses each received infusions of ketamine 3mg/kgbwt/h, medetomidine 5μg/kgbwt/h, guaifenesin 100mg/kgbwt/h (KMG) or ketamine 3mg/kg bwt/h, medetomidine 5μg/kgbwt/h, midazolam 0.1mg/kgbwt/h (KMM) for 50min. Cardiorespiratory variables and anaesthetic depth were assessed every 5-10min. Recovery times after the infusions ceased were recorded and recovery quality was assessed using a composite score system (CSS), simple descriptive scale (SDS) and visual analogue scale (VAS). Multivariable models were used to generate mean recovery scores for each treatment and each recovery score system and provide P-values comparing treatment groups. Anaesthesia was uneventful with no difference in additional anaesthetic requirements and little clinically relevant differences in cardiopulmonary variables between groups. All horses recovered without incident with no significant difference in recovery times. Quality of the anaesthetic recovery was significantly better for the KMM group compared with the KMG group using the CSS (P<0.001), SDS (P<0.001) and VAS (P<0.001). No surgical stimulus was applied and study animals may not represent general horse population. Midazolam is a suitable alternative to guaifenesin when co-infused with ketamine and medetomidine for anaesthesia in young horses undergoing noninvasive procedures. Both infusions produce a clinically comparable quality of anaesthesia; however, recovery from anaesthesia is of a better quality following an infusion of ketamine-medetomidine-midazolam.