Torcivia Catherine, McDonnell Sue
Department of Clinical Studies, New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.
Havemeyer Equine Behavior Lab, Section of Reproduction and Behavior, Department of Clinical Studies, New Bolton Center, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, Kennett Square, PA 19348, USA.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Jun 28;12(13):1659. doi: 10.3390/ani12131659.
Vaccinations via intramuscular injection are a key component of preventative health care in horses. Development of problematic behavioral aversion to injections is quite common. Our clinical impression has been that topical anesthetic applied to injection sites can reduce the behavioral reaction; however, this has not been critically tested. To blindly evaluate efficacy, either 5% or 10% topical lidocaine solution or 0% control was applied to injection sites for 78 ponies two minutes before intramuscular vaccination. Mean reaction scores on a scale of 0-3 were 0.84 (se 0.18) for 5% lidocaine solution, 0.62 (se 0.14) for 10% lidocaine solution, compared to 1.30 (se 0.19) for 0% control solution. Reaction scores for both the 5% and 10% lidocaine were significantly lower than for the control group. Additionally, the proportion of subjects with a reaction greater than a slight flinch was 2 of 25 for the 5% lidocaine, 5 of 26 for the 10% lidocaine and 15 of 27 for the 0% lidocaine control. For both the 5% and 10% lidocaine groups, the proportion differed significantly from the control. The difference between the 5% and 10% lidocaine groups was not statistically significant. These findings confirm our clinical impression that application of topical anesthetic just two minutes in advance of intramuscular injection can effectively reduce the behavior reaction of horses.
肌肉注射疫苗是马匹预防性医疗保健的关键组成部分。对注射产生不良行为厌恶的情况相当常见。我们的临床印象是，在注射部位涂抹局部麻醉剂可以减少行为反应；然而，这尚未经过严格测试。为了盲目评估疗效，在78匹小马进行肌肉注射疫苗前两分钟，将5%或10%的局部利多卡因溶液或0%的对照溶液涂抹于注射部位。5%利多卡因溶液的平均反应评分（0-3分制）为0.84（标准误0.18），10%利多卡因溶液为0.62（标准误0.14），而0%对照溶液为1.30（标准误0.19）。5%和10%利多卡因的反应评分均显著低于对照组。此外，反应大于轻微退缩的受试者比例，5%利多卡因组为25例中的2例，10%利多卡因组为26例中的5例，0%利多卡因对照组为27例中的15例。5%和10%利多卡因组的比例与对照组均有显著差异。5%和10%利多卡因组之间的差异无统计学意义。这些发现证实了我们的临床印象，即在肌肉注射前两分钟涂抹局部麻醉剂可有效降低马匹的行为反应。
