Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, Bombay Veterinary College, Parel, Mumbai - 12.
1 A part of M. V. Sc thesis submitted by first author to Maharashtra Animal and Fishery Sciences University, Nagpur (M. S.).
The present study was undertaken to evaluate and compare the two different general anesthetic techniques for its utility in equine gelding under field condition. Twelve apparently healthy male horses were used for this study, which were randomly divided into two groups of 6 horses in each. Xylazine @1 mg/kg was used as preanesthetic 10 minutes before induction of anesthesia. Propofol @ 3 mg/kg and ketamine @ 2mg/kg body weight was used for induction of anesthesia in group I and group II, respectively. Each animal was evaluated before, during and after completion of gelding for different clinical and physiological parameters. Induction of anesthesia occurred within 171.2 ± 21.43 seconds and 190.8 ± 19.99 seconds in group I and group II, respectively. Duration of anesthesia was 13.4 ± 1.21 and 15.4 ± 2.29 minutes in group I and group II, respectively. Horses of group I and group II recovered completely within 42.00 ± 5.83 and 56.00 ± 4.00 minutes, respectively. Rectal temperature and respiratory rate decreased significantly during anesthesia, while heart rate increased significantly during anesthesia in both the groups. From these observations it was concluded that propofol along with xylazine produces faster and smooth induction with short duration of anesthesia and the quality of anesthesia and recovery was better with Xylazine - Propofol combination.
