Opioid-free sedation for atlantoaxial cerebrospinal fluid collection in adult horses.

Background: Atlantoaxial (AA) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) collection in standing horses utilizes the controlled narcotic morphine, thereby limiting feasibility in field practice settings.

Objectives: To compare AA CSF collection time and reaction scores in horses sedated with morphine-containing and opioid-free sedation protocols: detomidine + morphine (DM), detomidine + xylazine (DX), detomidine + detomidine (DD), detomidine alone (D0); To develop a novel method for assessing sedation in standing horses using open-source motion-tracking software.

Animals: Six healthy adult horses.

Endoscopic-guided Esophageal Foreign Body Removal in a Donkey.

Esophageal obstruction is a common disorder in equids usually caused by intraluminal impaction with roughage and/or other feed material. Esophageal obstructions can also be caused by foreign bodies, but they are rarely reported and information regarding diagnosis and management is lacking. This report describes an esophageal obstruction in a donkey caused by a metallic foreign body removed using endoscopic guidance.

J-incision to approach the cranial abdomen in the adult horse.

Objective: To describe a modified celiotomy to improve access to cranial abdominal structures in horses.

Animals: Four horses.

Study Design: Short case series.

Organic extraction of bone lysates improves DNA purification with silica beads.

In our standard protocol for DNA extraction from skeletal remains of unidentified bodies, bone lysates resulting from decalcification and Proteinase K treatment were purified with the DNA IQ™ Casework Pro Kit for Maxwell16 automate (Promega, WI). Despite its success in the majority of cases, the DNA purification with paramagnetic silica beads failed in some challenging samples. This failure in DNA recovery was often associated with filter clogging during the required volume reduction of the lysate to enable loading on the automate.