López-Sanromán F J, Gómez Cisneros D, Varela del Arco M, Santiago Llorente I, Santos González M
F. Javier López-Sanromán DVM, PhD, Dipl. ECVS, Dpto. Medicina y Cirugía Animal, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Avda. Puerta de Hierro s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain, Phone: +34 629 171 763, Fax: +34 913 943 808, E-mail:
Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol. 2015;28(5):312-7. doi: 10.3415/VCOT-14-11-0177. Epub 2015 Jul 29.
The aim of the present study was to quantify by accelerometry the trotting pattern of adult horses sedated with two different doses of acepromazine, in order to assess the use of this drug in equine lameness evaluations.
Seven mature horses were used and three treatments were administered to each horse: saline solution, acepromazine (0.01 mg/kg), and acepromazine (0.02 mg/kg). The portable gait analyzer used consisted of three orthogonal accelerometers that measure accelerations along the dorsoventral, longitudinal, and lateral axes. Baseline values were obtained and after treatment, accelerometric recordings were repeated every five minutes during the first 20 minutes after the injection and then every 10 minutes thereafter for two hours. Ground-to-lip distance was also measured.
Administration of acepromazine decreased some of the variables investigated and differences between doses were observed. Speed, stride frequency, and stride length were significantly reduced following treatments. For coordination parameters, no significant differences among values were observed. Energetic variables suffered only weak reductions whereas ground-to-lip distance values were significantly decreased up to 120 minutes after treatment.
Acepromazine produces significant alterations in the gait pattern with differences between doses, but it does not affect coordination variables in normal unexcited horses, and at a dose of 0.01 mg/kg may be the tranquilizer of choice for evaluating lameness in this setting.
本研究旨在通过加速度测量法量化用两种不同剂量乙酰丙嗪镇静的成年马的小跑模式，以评估该药物在马跛行评估中的应用。
使用7匹成年马，每匹马接受三种处理：生理盐水、乙酰丙嗪（0.01mg/kg）和乙酰丙嗪（0.02mg/kg）。所使用的便携式步态分析仪由三个正交加速度计组成，可测量沿背腹、纵向和横向轴的加速度。在处理前获取基线值，处理后，在注射后的前20分钟内每5分钟重复进行加速度测量记录，此后每10分钟记录一次，持续两小时。还测量了地面到唇部的距离。
乙酰丙嗪的给药降低了一些研究变量，并观察到不同剂量之间的差异。处理后速度、步频和步长显著降低。对于协调参数，各值之间未观察到显著差异。能量变量仅略有降低，而地面到唇部的距离值在处理后120分钟内显著降低。
乙酰丙嗪会使步态模式产生显著改变，且不同剂量之间存在差异，但在正常未兴奋的马匹中它不影响协调变量，在这种情况下，0.01mg/kg的剂量可能是评估跛行的首选镇静剂。
