Blood factors of Sus scrofa following a series of three TASER® electronic control device exposures
Introduction
Several reports of TASER® electronic control device1 use by law-enforcement personnel have involved repeated shots to a single individual in a short period of time (e.g., Ref. [1]). Jauchem et al. [2] published the first study of blood factor changes after such exposures in an animal model (swine). These experiments involved a relatively large number of TASER device exposures—18 within a 3-min period. Blood pH was significantly decreased for 1 h following exposure, but subsequently returned toward a normal level. Lactate was highly elevated, with a slow return toward baseline.
The present experiments were performed to investigate effects of a series of only three 5-s exposures of TASER International's ADVANCED TASER X26. Exposure in this manner represents a more typical scenario likely to be encountered by law-enforcement personnel. Muscle contraction and changes in blood factors were examined in anaesthetized swine.
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Material and methods
Ten male domestic swine (Sus scrofa domestica) ranging in weight from 46 to 61 kg (mean ± standard error of the mean, 50.8 ± 1.6 kg) were used for these studies. Techniques of animal preparation, anaesthesia, physiological measurements, blood sampling, and analysis of blood factors have been presented previously [2]. Animals were anaesthetized with an intramuscular injection of tiletamine HCl and zolazepam HCl (Telazol®, 6 mg kg−1). The opioid buprenorphine (0.005–0.2 mg−1 kg−1) was administered to
Muscle contraction
All four limbs of each animal exhibited extension even though the electrodes were positioned in areas at some distances from the limbs. Peak values of force generated by the leg muscles (averaged across all limbs) for the first, second, and third TASER device exposures (5 s each) were 230 ± 8, 242 ± 6, and 218 ± 8 N, respectively.
Details of leg movements, such as moment of inertia and joint angular velocity, were not evaluated in this study. By simple visual observation of the animals, however, it was
Muscle contraction
Peak values of force (between approximately 200 and 250 N) generated by the leg muscles were similar to those in the previous study of repeated X26 device exposures [2]. For comparative purposes, we note that peak anterior-cruciate-ligament forces as high as 150 N have been reported in another species of quadruped (goat) during trotting [5].
Glucose, lactate and pH
Bunger et al. [6] reported very little change in blood glucose of swine after exercise (10 min on treadmill at 78 m/min). The increase in blood glucose in the
Conclusion
Three repeated TASER device exposures had only transient effects on blood factors, which all returned to pre-exposure levels, with the exception of hematocrit (which remained elevated after 3 h). Since the increase in this factor was less than that which may occur after short periods of exercise, it is unlikely that this would be an indicator of any serious harm.
Acknowledgments
We thank William D. Snyder, DVM, Major, Veterinary Corps, U.S. Army, and Specialist Nancy Meadows for surgically implanting the jugular venous catheters. We thank Specialist Michael Palmerin and Sergeant Bennie H. Mitchell, U.S. Army, for anaesthesia maintenance, and David Fines and Melissa Tarango, Advanced Information Engineering Services (AIES) (A General Dynamics Company), for technical assistance during the experiments.
This work was supported by the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program, Marine
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