Comparison between head-tail-rope assisted and unassisted recoveries in healthy horses undergoing general anesthesia for elective surgeries

Objective To compare attempts to stand, duration, quality, and occurrence of injuries between head-tail rope assistance and unassisted recoveries in healthy horses undergoing general anesthesia for elective surgeries. Study design Randomized, prospective, clinical trial. Methods Three hundred one healthy horses undergoing elective surgeries were randomly assigned to recover with head-tail rope assistance (group A) or unassisted (group U); 305 recoveries (group A, n = 154; group U, n = 151) were analyzed. Anesthesia was maintained with isoflurane and triple drip. For each recovery, attempts to stand, duration, quality, and recovery-associated injuries were recorded. Data were analyzed by linear regression and analysis of covariance. Results Anesthesia duration was similar between groups (mean +/- SD, 70 +/- 29 minutes). Compared with group U, group A had fewer attempts to stand (median [range], group A = 1 [1-7] vs group U = 3 [1-34]) and shorter duration of recovery (mean +/- SD, A = 36 +/- 12 minutes vs U = 41 +/- 15 minutes). Recovery quality in group A (28 points [15-70]) was better than that in group U (38 points [11-87]). More horses had recovery-associated injuries in group U (9 horses) compared with group A (2 horses). One horse per group was euthanized. Conclusion Head-tail rope assistance reduced standing attempts, shortened recovery duration, improved recovery quality, and reduced recovery-associated minor injuries after general anesthesia for elective surgery in healthy horses. Fatalities could not be prevented. Clinical significance Head-tail rope assistance may improve recovery in healthy horses after short-duration elective surgeries with isoflurane and triple drip.