Balancer-assisted sling recovery of critical equine patients after general anaesthesia

IF 1.1 4区农林科学 Q3 VETERINARY SCIENCES

Equine Veterinary Education Pub Date : 2026-07-02 Epub Date: 2026-03-10 DOI:10.1111/eve.70065

J. Kuhlmann, C. Spadavecchia, C. Koch

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

Traditional sling-based systems to assist horses during recovery from general anaesthesia (GA) could be improved by adding a balancer to obtain a dynamic weight relief.

Objectives

To evaluate the applicability of a novel balancer-assisted sling system during recovery of horses after GA and to report initial experiences with high-risk clinical cases.

Study Design

Pilot clinical trial and a case series.

Methods

The system and its clinical applicability were evaluated in a pilot study involving two healthy horses and subsequently applied in 17 recoveries of 16 high-risk clinical cases. Recovery quality was scored on a scale from 0 to 5 (0 = poor, 5 = perfect). System tolerability was subjectively assessed as good, moderate or poor, and the balancer system's effect on the overall success of recovery was categorised as positive, neutral or negative.

Results

In the pilot study, two test runs were sufficient to optimise integration into the existing infrastructure and to provide confidence for clinical applicability. In clinical high-risk cases, recovery quality scores varied (score 5, n = 0; score 4, n = 4; score 3, n = 6; score 1, n = 1 and score 0, n = 6). One horse with a recovery score of 0 was euthanised due to implant failure sustained during recovery. Tolerability was good in seven cases, moderate in nine cases and poor in one case. The effect of the balancer for successful recovery was judged positive in five cases, neutral in nine cases and negative in three cases.

Main Limitations

Low case number, subjective assessments, lack of a control group.

Conclusions

The sling-balancer system can be used in clinical practice to assist horses during anaesthetic recovery in selected cases. While some horses appeared to benefit from the assistance, others showed limited activity while supported (moderate tolerability), reducing their effectiveness or necessitating sling removal. Further clinical experience and improved criteria for patient selection are warranted.

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查看原文本刊更多论文

全身麻醉后危重马病人的平衡器辅助悬索恢复

背景：传统的基于吊索的系统可以通过增加平衡器来获得动态减轻重量来帮助马匹从全身麻醉（GA）中恢复。目的评估一种新型平衡器辅助吊索系统在GA后马匹恢复中的适用性，并报告高危临床病例的初步经验。研究设计：初步临床试验和病例系列。方法在2匹健康马的中试试验中评估该系统及其临床适用性，随后在16例临床高危病例的17次康复中应用该系统。恢复质量评分从0到5（0 =差，5 =完美）。系统的容忍度被主观地评估为好、中等或差，平衡器系统对整体恢复成功的影响被分类为积极、中性或消极。在初步研究中，两次试验运行足以优化与现有基础设施的集成，并为临床适用性提供信心。在临床高危病例中，康复质量评分存在差异（5分，n = 0； 4分，n = 4； 3分，n = 6； 1分，n = 1和0分，n = 6）。一匹恢复得分为0的马因恢复期间持续的植入失败而被安乐死。耐受性良好者7例，中等者9例，差者1例。平衡器对成功恢复的作用判断为5例为正，9例为中性，3例为负。病例数少，主观评价，缺乏对照组。结论该系统可在临床上用于辅助马匹麻醉恢复。虽然一些马似乎从援助中受益，但其他马在支持时表现出有限的活动（中等耐受性），降低了它们的有效性或需要移除吊带。进一步的临床经验和改进的患者选择标准是必要的。

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来源期刊

Equine Veterinary Education 农林科学-兽医学

CiteScore

2.40

自引率

22.20%

发文量

132

审稿时长

18-36 weeks

期刊介绍： Equine Veterinary Education (EVE) is the official journal of post-graduate education of both the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) and the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP). Equine Veterinary Education is a monthly, peer-reviewed, subscription-based journal, integrating clinical research papers, review articles and case reports from international sources, covering all aspects of medicine and surgery relating to equids. These papers facilitate the dissemination and implementation of new ideas and techniques relating to clinical veterinary practice, with the ultimate aim of promoting best practice. New developments are placed in perspective, encompassing new concepts and peer commentary. The target audience is veterinarians primarily engaged in the practise of equine medicine and surgery. The educational value of a submitted article is one of the most important criteria that are assessed when deciding whether to accept it for publication. Articles do not necessarily need to contain original or novel information but we welcome submission of this material. The educational value of an article may relate to articles published with it (e.g. a Case Report may not have direct educational value but an associated Clinical Commentary or Review Article published alongside it will enhance the educational value).