Hypothermia prevention in long-standing equine dental procedures

Hypothermia is a common, detrimental post-operative complication in man and veterinary medicine. Active warming strategies are paramount for prevention and treatment. Duration of operations, administered drugs and their adverse effects put horses undergoing procedures requiring long-standing sedation in danger of hypothermia. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an air warming device would be helpful to avoid severe hypothermia in adult horses. Twenty client-owned horses undergoing dental/sinusoidal procedures were divided into two equal groups. The treatment group was covered with a warming blanket connected to the warming device with the temperature set to 43°C. Horses in the control group were not blanketed. Temperature was measured at the time of first sedation (T0) and every hour throughout the length of the procedure. Use of the warming blanket was straightforward and caused no adverse reactions. The mean decrease in body core temperature in the treatment group was significantly less than the mean temperature decrease in the control group, beginning at the second hour of the procedure. No horse in the treatment group reached a body temperature below 36°C. Overall loss of temperature in the control group was more than double when compared with the treatment group (1.5°C and 0.7°C respectively). The use of an active air warming blanket in horses is an easy technique to prevent hypothermia in horses undergoing long-standing sedation procedures.