Evaluation of risk factors, including fluconazole administration, for prolonged anesthetic recovery times in horses undergoing general anesthesia for ocular surgery: 81 cases (2006–2013)

Objective—To determine risk factors for prolonged anesthetic recovery time in horses that underwent general anesthesia for ocular surgery. Design—Retrospective cohort study. Animals—81 horses that underwent general anesthesia for ocular surgery between 2006 and 2013. Procedures—Descriptive information recorded included the ocular procedure performed, concurrent fluconazole treatments, analgesic and anesthetic agents administered, procedure duration, use of sedation for recovery, and recovery time. Data were analyzed for associations between recovery time and other variables. Results—81 horses met inclusion criteria. In 72 horses, anesthesia was induced with ketamine and midazolam; 16 horses treated concurrently with fluconazole had significantly longer mean recovery time (109 minutes [95% confidence interval {CI}, 94 to 124 minutes]) than did 56 horses that were not treated with fluconazole (50 minutes [95% CI, 44 to 55 minutes]). In 9 horses anesthetized with a protocol that included ketamine but did not...