According to a new study led by Klaus Hopster, Assistant Professor of Large Animal Anaesthesiology at Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine, Heliox – a breathing gas composed of a mixture of helium (He) and oxygen (O2) – when used under higher pressure ventilation, could achieve better results for horses under anaesthesia.
A horse in general surgery is an awkward sight. For the best access, the animals may be placed on their sides or even their backs, a position that puts considerable pressure on their internal organs, often leading to partial lung collapse. Despite using oxygen-rich ventilation, blood oxygen levels can fall to dangerous levels during lengthy procedures.
Veterinarians have employed a variety of strategies to mitigate these respiratory challenges, including using O2 delivered under high pressure to ensure the alveoli – the small sacs in the lungs where gas exchange takes place – are opened, or “recruited.” Others had used heliox, with mixed results.
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