Resumen de Accelerometric comparison of the locomotor pattern of horses sedated with xylazine hydrochloride, detomidine hydrochloride, or romifidine hydrochloride

F. Javier López Sanromán, Ronald Holmbak Petersen, Marta Varela del Arco, Isabel Santiago

• Objective—To evaluate the duration of effects on movement patterns of horses after sedation with equipotent doses of xylazine hydrochloride, detomidine hydrochloride, or romifidine hydrochloride and determine whether accelerometry can be used to quantify differences among drug treatments.

  Animals—6 healthy horses.

  Procedures—Each horse was injected IV with saline (0.9% NaCl) solution (10 mL), xylazine diluted in saline solution (0.5 mg/kg), detomidine diluted in saline solution (0.01 mg/kg), or romifidine diluted in saline solution (0.04 mg/kg) in random order. A triaxial accelerometric device was used for gait assessment 15 minutes before and 5, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, 105, and 120 minutes after each treatment. Eight variables were calculated, including speed, stride frequency, stride length, regularity, dorsoventral power, propulsive power, mediolateral power, and total power; the force of acceleration and 3 components of power were then calculated.

  Results—Significant differences were evident in stride frequency and regularity between treatments with saline solution and each α2-adrenoceptor agonist drug; in speed, dorsoventral power, propulsive power, total power, and force values between treatments with saline solution and detomidine or romifidine; and in mediolateral power between treatments with saline solution and detomidine. Stride length did not differ among treatments