title: Has intravenous lidocaine improved the outcome in horses following surgical management of small intestinal lesions in a UK hospital population?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Perioperative lidocaine treatment is commonly used in horses that undergo surgical treatment of colic, to prevent or treat postoperative ileus and reduce the effects of intestinal ischaemia-reperfusion injury. However, its clinical efficacy has not been evaluated in a large population of horses undergoing small intestinal surgery. The aim of the current study was to evaluate whether systemic lidocaine administration reduced the prevalence, volume and duration of postoperative reflux and improved rates of survival following surgical treatment of small intestinal lesions. Data were collected as a part of two prospective studies investigating postoperative survival of surgical colic patients admitted to a UK equine referral hospital during the periods 2004-2006 and 2012-2014. Kaplan-Meier plots of cumulative probability of survival and the log-rank test were used to compare survival between horses that did or did not receive lidocaine. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to compare the total reflux volume and duration of reflux between the groups. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards model was used to identify pre- and intraoperative risk factors for non-survival.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from 318 horses were included in the final analysis. The overall prevalence of postoperative reflux was 24.5 %. This was significantly higher (34.8 %) in horses admitted in 2012-2014 compared to the 2004-2006 cohort (16.7). Perioperative lidocaine treatment had no effect on total reflux volume, duration of reflux or rates of postoperative survival nor was it a risk factor associated with altered postoperative survival. Variables identified to be associated with increased risk of postoperative mortality included packed cell volume on admission (hazard ratio [HR] 1.03 95 %, 95 % confidence interval [CI] 1.004-1.06, p = 0.024), heart rate on admission (HR 1.014, 95 % CI 1.004-1.024, p =0.008) and duration of surgery (HR 1.007, 95 % CI 1.002-1.01, p = 0.008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lidocaine therapy had no effect on the prevalence of postoperative reflux, total reflux volume and duration of reflux nor did it have any effect on postoperative survival in horses undergoing surgical management of small intestinal disease for treatment of colic. There is a need for a well-designed multicentre, prospective randomised controlled trial to fully investigate the efficacy of lidocaine across different hospital populations.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infection and Global Health, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Liverpool, Wirral, CH64 7TE, UK.|Department of Surgery, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt.
authors.forename: Shebl E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Salem
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7TE, UK.
authors.forename: Chris J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Proudman
authors.affiliation: Institute of Infection and Global Health, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Liverpool, Wirral, CH64 7TE, UK. darcher@liverpool.ac.uk.|Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital, School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool, Wirral, CH64 7TE, UK. darcher@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Debra C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Archer
mesh_terms: D061605:Administration, Intravenous; D000779:Anesthetics, Local / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000818:Animals; D003085:Colic / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000601:surgery / Q000662:veterinary*; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D006734:Horse Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D006736:Horses; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008012:Lidocaine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000779:Anesthetics, Local; D008012:Lidocaine
keywords: Colic; Horse; Laparotomy; Lidocaine; Postoperative ileus; Postoperative reflux; Small intestine