Open Access
CC BY 4.0 · VCOT Open 2023; 06(S 01): A1-A11
DOI: 10.1055/s-0043-1768893
Equine Scientific/Clinical Abstract Podium Sessions

The Effect of Acepromazine on Subjective and Objective Assessments of Naturally Occurring Lameness in Horses

Authors

  • J. M. Morgan

    1   William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California, United States

  • C. Pige

    1   William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California, United States

  • S. le Jeune

    1   William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California, United States
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    Introduction: Acepromazine has been used to facilitate handling of horses for lameness evaluation. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of acepromazine on the assessment of naturally occurring forelimb lameness.

    Materials and Methods: Six horses with naturally occurring forelimb lameness were selected and enrolled in this blinded cross over study. Lameness, trotting speed and degree of tranquilization were assessed at baseline, 30, 60, 120 and 360 minutes after injection of acepromazine (0.04 mg/kg) or saline. Lameness was assessed subjectively and objectively with an intertial sensor system. Degree of tranquilization was assessed by measuring head height. Trotting speed was recorded with timing gaits. Data were compared with a 2-way repeated measures analysis of variance. Significance was defined as p-value less than or equal to 0.05.

    Results: There were no significant differences in subjective or objective lameness assessment or speed at any time points. Head height was significantly decreased at 60 minutes in all horses but was more pronounced in acepromazine treated horses. The subjective evaluation did not detect an increase in lameness in the same horses as the objective evaluation.

    Discussion/Conclusion: These results support the use of acepromazine to facilitate lameness evaluation in horses with forelimb lameness. The inherent variability in lameness appears greater than any effect of acepromazine. This study is limited by the small sample size and inherent variability of naturally occurring lameness. Further evaluation of acepromazine through enrolment of a larger number of horses with prospective blinded evaluation of lameness is warranted.

    Acknowledgments:

    There was no proprietary interest or funding for this project.


     

    No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).

    Publication History

    Article published online:
    01 May 2023

    © 2023. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

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