A new study has shown that eye injuries could be somewhat common in horses that undergo general anesthesia, reports EQUUS magazine.
Scientists at the University of Liverpool in England examined the eyes of 40 horses that were about to undergo elective surgery that was not related to their eyes. Their eyes were stained with fluorescein dye to determine whether any of the horses had pre-existing corneal abrasions. None were found.
The horses then went under anesthesia. Ophthalmic ointment was applied to the eyes, a standard procedure to protect the cornea.
The eyes of each horse were examined again 24 hours after surgery. The researchers found that 17.6 percent of the horses had sustained minor corneal abrasions during surgery. The team investigated multiple potential risk factors for the abrasions, including the horse's weight and age, and duration of anesthesia and length of recovery.
The only factor that seemed to increase the risk of eye injury was recumbency on the operating table. The team is unsure why this is a factor in eye abrasions. It could be from how the horse is placed on the table, how the horse's head is repositioned while on the table or physical monitoring of the blink reflex during surgery.
None of the study horses showed any outward signs of eye injury and each abrasion healed within 24 hours of treatment with an antibiotic ointment.
The scientists note that their findings aren't significant enough to suggest that every horse be checked for eye trauma after undergoing a surgery that required they be recumbent. They do suggest that the findings are enough to warrant additional care be taken to lessen the potential for eye injury in horses undergoing surgery.
Read more at EQUUS magazine.
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