Abstract
BACKGROUND: Bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) is a method for the recovery of respiratory secretion from the lower airways. OBJECTIVES: To investigate if the administration of a single dose of a bronchodilatator in horses with a suspected or confirmed severe equine asthma could improve recovery of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). ANIMALS: Twenty-eight horses with severe equine asthma. METHODS: Horses were divided into 2 groups: group "treated" was given salbutamol before endoscopic examination and BALF collection, whereas group "not treated" was not given. BAL was performed with BAL-catheter by instilling 350 mL of sterile saline. Amount of recovered fluid was recorded. Statistical analysis was performed with a two-tailed Student's t test. RESULTS: The average fluid recovery in the horses treated with salbutamol was 52% ± 15% (mean +/- SD), compared with 38% ± 13% for the group of horses not treated with salbutamol (P = 0.013). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: Clinicians should consider administration of salbutamol before performing BAL on horses with asthma.