Recovery quality after romifidine versus detomidine infusion during isoflurane anaesthesia in horses.

Abstract To examine the influence of detomidine or romifidine on recovery quality from isoflurane anaesthesia 78 anaesthetic records were reviewed, from horses that had received romifidine (group R) during premedication [80-120 μg kg-1 intravenously (IV)], anaesthetic maintenance (40 μg kg-1 hour-1 IV) and recovery (20 μg kg-1 IV) or detomidine (group D), at doses of respectively 10-20 μg kg-1 IV, 5 μg kg-1 hour-1 IV and 2.5 μg kg-1 IV. Duration of the different recovery phases, number of attempts to sternal and standing, scores for transition to standing (TrSta), balance and coordination once standing (BC) and final recovery score (FS) were compared between groups using either a Mann-Whitney U-, independent t- or Chi-Square test, as appropriate (alpha 0.05). Parametric data are represented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) and nonparametric data as median (interquartile range). Compared to group D (25 horses), horses in group R (53 horses) needed significantly fewer attempts to achieve sternal recumbency [R 1 (1 – 1) versus D 1 (1 – 2)], remained significantly longer in sternal recumbency [R 10 (3 – 14,5) versus D 5 (1 – 9,5) minutes], needed significantly less attempts to stand [R 1 (1 – 1) versus D 2 (1 – 4)] and a significantly shorter time to stand after making their first attempt [R 0 (0 – 0) versus D 3 (0 – 6) minutes], with significantly better scores for TrSta, BC and FS in group R. The results suggest that, at the doses used, romifidine provides a better recovery quality.