Short-term General Anesthesia With Tiletamine/Zolazepam in Horses Sedated With Medetomidine for Castration Under Field Conditions

The objective of the study is to evaluate the anesthetic effect produced by the tiletamine/zolazepamassociation in horses sedated with medetomidine undergoing orchiectomy underfield conditions. Tenuncastrated male horses, American Society of Anesthesiologists category I, undergoing orchiectomy,were enrolled in the study. The horses received acepromazine (0.03 mg kg1intramuscularly) 30 mi-nutes before sedation with medetomidine (8mgkg1intravenously). Anesthesia was induced withtiletamine/zolazepam (0.7 mg kg1intravenously). During anesthesia, heart rate (HR), pulse quality,respiratory rate, temperature, SpO2, movement, and reflexes were measured every 5 minutes. Arterialblood gases were evaluated before the premedication and during the surgical procedure. The quality ofinduction and recovery was recorded. The sedation was appropriate, and the quality of recovery wasevaluated as good. A statistically significant difference was revealed between the basal and intra-anesthesia HR. No differences were observed in blood gas parameters during the procedure. The re-sults suggested that general anesthesia produced with tiletamine/zolazepam for induction in horsessedated with medetomidine is suitable during orchiectomy underfield conditions.