Equine veterinary journal
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Equine veterinary journal · Mar 1998
Effects of inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate on respiratory function in horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The effects of beclomethasone dipropionate on pulmonary function and arterial blood gas values were investigated in horses with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Six mature mares, diagnosed as having COPD based on clinical signs, cytological examination of bronchoalveolar lavage and pulmonary function testing, were used. Beclomethasone dipropionate (3750 microg) was administered b.i.d. for a 2 week period with a metered dose inhaler using a mask. ⋯ One horse developed a mild lower airway infection 24 h after the beginning of treatment, but no other possible side effects were noticed. Pharyngeal fungal cultures were negative before and after treatment. It can be concluded from the results of this study that inhaled beclomethasone dipropionate causes a marked improvement of respiratory function in horses with COPD.
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Equine veterinary journal · Mar 1998
Cardiopulmonary changes associated with abdominal insufflation of carbon dioxide in mechanically ventilated, dorsally recumbent, halothane anaesthetised horses.
The use of laparoscopy for the diagnosis or therapeutic management of abdominal disease in the horse has distinct advantages when it allows the horse to remain standing. However, distending the abdomen by insufflation of a biologically active gas in an anaesthetised horse may add to the physiological challenge of general anaesthesia and recumbency. The cardiopulmonary responses to abdominal insufflation with carbon dioxide (CO2) to 15 mmHg pressure were evaluated in 6 horses in dorsal recumbency anaesthetised with halothane in oxygen and subjected to laparoscopic colopexy. ⋯ Partial pressure of oxygen and pH of arterial blood, tidal volume and systemic vascular resistance decreased during abdominal insufflation and laparoscopic surgery whereas mean arterial blood pressure, right atrial pressure, cardiac index, stroke index, partial pressure of CO2 in arterial blood and end tidal respiratory gases, and calculated physiological shunt increased significantly. Only systemic vascular resistance returned to the pre-insufflation level after desufflation. The hypercapnia, acidosis and apparent increase in cardiac work that accompany CO2 pneumoperitoneum for laparoscopic surgery could place the anaesthetised horse at additional risk of perioperative complications.