Tracheal rupture following general anaesthesia in a horse

A Dutch Warmblood, with no other underlying clinical disease, presented for surgical excision of a sarcoid tumour on the distal right pinna under general anaesthesia. At the end of the procedure, immediately before being moved to recovery, the horse became light and made repeated attempts to move whilst attached to the hoist. Anaesthesia was deepened with intravenous thiopental sodium (Thiopentone)¹ and the horse was moved into the recovery room. The trachea was extubated with the cuff of the endotracheal tube inadvertently left partially inflated. Recovery was smooth and the horse stood uneventfully. The following day subcutaneous emphysema was noted along the neck and tracheoscopy revealed an abnormal dorsoventrally flattened trachea and a 5 cm tear in the dorsal aspect of the trachea. Symptomatic treatment resulted in progressive healing of the lesion and the horse recovered fully with no evidence of respiratory complications.