Poor reproducibility of template bleeding time in horses.
BACKGROUND
Template bleeding time (TBT) is considered to be a useful test for detecting platelet function disorders and the effect of platelet-activating drugs, but studies in human medicine have concluded that the test has poor reproducibility and sensitivity.


OBJECTIVE
TBT has poor reproducibility in horses and has insufficient sensitivity to detect the effect of etamsylate on platelet function.


METHODS
Twenty healthy horses.


METHODS
TBT was determined and repeated 2 hours and 30 days later. TBT was also performed 2 hours after IV administration of etamsylate.


RESULTS
Although no statistical differences were seen between the TBT values obtained at different times, the coefficients of variation for TBT replicates ranged from 26.8% to 45.5%. The reference range for TBT was 138.4-860.4 seconds. No statistically significant shortening of the mean TBT value was observed after etamsylate administration.


CONCLUSIONS
TBT has poor reproducibility, and the reference range is too wide to make TBT useful in a clinical setting. Other tests with higher reproducibility should be considered when assessing platelet function disorders in horses.
Segura
D
D
Servei de Medicina Interna Equina, Departament de Medicina i Cirurgia Animals, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Monreal
L
L
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001760:Bleeding Time / Q000592:standards / Q000662:veterinary*; D001800:Blood Specimen Collection / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary; D004979:Ethamsylate / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006490:Hemostatics / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D010976:Platelet Count / Q000662:veterinary; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D006490:Hemostatics; D004979:Ethamsylate