Effect of temperament on recovery in isoflurane-anaesthetised horses. (2nd July 2021) - Bryant, Helen
Abstract : Background: Recovery is a crucial phase of equine anaesthesia and factors influencing recovery quality are an active area of research. Aim: To investigate the effect of temperament on recovery score after isoflurane-anaesthesia in 30 adult horses undergoing elective surgery. Methods: Two veterinarians used a numerical rating scale to score each horse's response to five tests as a gauge of temperament. Owners used a numerical rating scale to score their horse's temperament according to seven behaviour-related questions. Horses underwent elective surgery under general anaesthesia using a standardised protocol. Recovery was recorded and scored by a blinded assessor using the simple descriptive scale for scoring recovery (R1) and the Edinburgh system (R2). Findings: There was no correlation between veterinarian or owner-assessed temperament and recovery score. Veterinary-assessed temperament score was negatively correlated with pre-induction romifidine and total romifidine dose. Both recovery scores were negatively correlated with anaesthetic duration and R1 was positively correlated with time to first movement in recovery. Conclusions: Temperament did not influence recovery score in our population of horses.