BEYOND PRIMARY CARE: HOW TO MANAGE UNCOMMON CONDITIONS


often leading to severe musculoskeletal injuries and exhaustion.3,4 Prolonged recumbency of large ani- mals is associated with secondary injuries including cranial trauma, eye injuries, myopathies, and nerve paralysis.3,4 Effective lifting devices used in large animals


must utilize the skeletal system for support due to the considerable weight of these animals. While a number of devices have been developed in the last 15 years to effectively aid vertical lifting of horses, many of them are complex systems that require frequent training of personnel, and the equipment is not readily available at the site of an incident, is cumbersome to move and store, and is expen- sive.2,7–11 Two of those devices including the An- derson Sling Support Device and the UC Davis Large Animal Lift were developed by a team lead by the first author6,12 The Anderson Sling Support De- vice was developed as a full-body support sling for extended support and airlifting.6 This device was later used as a recovery aid from general anesthesia in horses.11 The UC Davis Large Animal Lift was developed to fulfill the need for a lightweight device that was easier to apply to the recumbent horse and for shorter use than the Anderson Sling Support Device.12 The Animal Rescue and Transportation sling is a system used in Europe for both horses and cattle and provides general body support.5 Compli- cations associated with recumbency such as pres- sure sores, myopathies, neuropathies, and ileus can be prevented, and survival improved with the prompt use of these devices.4 A more simple, fast to apply, inexpensive, more readily available at the incident, and easy short term system to use in emer- gency situations is deemed necessary. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the use


of a novel four round sling system referred to as the Loops System as an option for brief vertical lift. Additionally, as horses may need to be moved on the ground from areas of danger or pulled from confined spaces, the use of this novel Loops System is de- scribed in many commonly used technical rescue procedures. In Part 1 this paper will discuss the vertical lifting of six sedated standing horses using the Loops System and referred to it as the Loop Vertical Lift System. In Part 2, this paper will describe the use of the Loops System to perform five commonly used technical rescue procedures by pro- viding illustrated, step-by-step instructions for each procedure: forward assist, rear assist, rear drag, whole-body roll, and placement on the recumbent horse for vertical lift.


Part 1—Vertical Lifting of Six Sedated Horses Using the Loops System


2. Materials and Methods


Loop Vertical Lift System on Live, Standing, Sedated Horses


All procedures involving live animals were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Commit-


tee at UC Davis. A pilot experiment consisting of a brief lift was undertaken prior to the full experi- ment. The pilot experiment was performed with one horse to assess sedation needs and general ap- proach for Loop placement. The horse in the pilot experiment received 0.01 mg/kg of detomidine hy- drochloride intravenously (IV), prior to placement of an intravenous catheter, then the loops were placed, and the horse was lifted 26 minutes after sedation administration. Upon initial suspension and the loops moving through the hind limbs, the horse be- gan kicking with each hind limb, double-barrel kick- ing, and bucking. This sedation protocol was deemed inadequate for that particular horse, and modifications were made to the sedation protocol. Additionally, foam cushions were placed over the loop straps in the hind limb to prevent the straps from wedging between the hind limbs (shown in following sections). The purpose of the study was to describe and evaluate if the loops system, when supporting the horse with nonweight bearing for a reasonable amount of time as expected for lifting a recumbent horse, would cause any harm, and be tolerated by the horse.


Animals


Six geldings from the Center for Equine Health herd at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine en- tered this study. The animals were transported to the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital on the day of testing. The horses ranged in age from 6 to 15 years (mean, 9.7 years; SD,3.1 years), ranged in weight from 507 to 640 kg (mean, 578.7 kg; SD  49.5 kg) and included three Thoroughbred, two Quarter Horses, and one Oldenberg.


Physical Evaluation


The horses underwent a complete physical examina- tion, and a brief lameness exam on the day prior to the lifting procedure. Immediately after the lifting pro- cedure, a brief physical examination was performed, and 1 hour after the animals fully recovered from sedation their ability to ambulate at a walk was eval- uated and classified as being normal or abnormal. At 24 hours post-lifting procedure, the horses under- went another complete physical and brief lameness examination. The examinations were performed by two board-certified equine medicine veterinarians. Assessment of potential pressure points by the loops such as in the axillary, xiphoid, inguinal, and sheath areas for the presence of edema and pain was per- formed. Edema was classified on a scale of 0 (no edema), 1 (mild: minimally visible but detected upon palpation), 2 (moderate: visibly detected) to 3 (severe edema: visibly detected and pitting upon palpation). Pain was assessed using the Colorado Equine Comfort Assessment Scale, ranging from 0 to 4.13 To assess lameness, the horses were walked and briefly trotted in a straight line, then moved in a circle clockwise and anticlockwise while being observed by the two veteri-


AAEP PROCEEDINGS  Vol. 65  2019 217


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