It is desirable to reduce surgery-induced oxidative stress (OS) because it can cause immune suppression and delayed wound healing. Propofol is known to have antioxidant potential and to reduce OS in humans, but there have been no studies of this issue in horses. This study was conducted to evaluate OS under three different propofol administration protocols in Thoroughbred racehorses undergoing arthroscopic surgery with sevoflurane anesthesia. Blood oxidative stress (bOS) and blood antioxidant power (bAP) were used as OS biomarkers. Both bOS and bAP significantly decreased after surgery in all groups, but no differences in these reductions were found among them. Different propofol administration protocols with sevoflurane anesthesia did not cause a difference in OS in Thoroughbred racehorses that underwent arthroscopic surgery.
Keywords: Thoroughbred racehorse; anesthesia; oxidative stress.