Effect of pre-operative starvation on intra-operative arterial oxygen tension in horses

This study assessed the effect of pre-operative starvation on intramperative arteriaI oxygen tension (PaO₂) by examination of anaesthetic records from starved and non-starved horses undergoing general anaesthesia. PaO₂ data from 69 horses were included, 33 of which were starved pre-operatively and 36 were not. Thirty minutes after induction of anaesthesia the mean PaO₂ in the non-starved group was higher than in the starved group (non-starved 40 [2649] kPa vs starved 30 [15–46] kPa. median and 25–75 percentile) but at 60 and 90 min the values for PaO₂ for the non-starvcd group were lower than those for the starved group (60 min: starved 31 [15–49] kPa vs non-starved 27 [11–38] kPa; 90 min: starved 31 [1244] kPa vs non-starved 22 [12–38] kPa) None of the differences between these values was statistically significant. Pre-operative starvation did not significantly increase intra-operativc PaO₂ under the conditions of this study.