Over a 24-month period, serum tumor necrosis factor (TNF) activity was determined in 289 horses with colic attributable to gastrointestinal tract disease. Serum TNF activity was quantitated by use of a modified in vitro cytotoxicity bioassay, using WEHI 164 clone-13 murine fibrosarcoma cells. Causes for colic, determined by clinical and laboratory evaluation, exploratory celiotomy, or necropsy included: gastrointestinal tract rupture (GTR); ileal impaction; small intestinal strangulating obstruction (SIO); proximal enteritis (PE); transient small intestinal distention; large-colon displacement; large-colon vovulus; large-colon impaction; colitis; small-colon obstruction; peritonitis; and unknown. Each diagnosis was placed into 1 of 3 lesion categories: inflammatory disorders (GTR, PE, colitis, peritonitis); strangulating intestinal obstruction (SIO, large-colon volvulus); and nonstrangulating intestinal obstruction (ileal impaction, transient small intestinal distension, large-colon displacement, large-colon impaction, small-colon obstruction, unknown). The prevalence of high serum TNF activity and/or mortality were evaluated. Differences were tested at significance level of P < 0.05. Approximately 20% of the 289 horses has serum TNF activity greater than that found in clinically normal horses (> 2.5 U/ml). Twenty-three horses (8%) had marked increase in serum TNF activity (greater than or equal to 10 U/ml) which was more prevalent among horses with SIO and PE than in horses of other diagnostic groups, except those with GTR. Mortality and marked increase in serum TNF activity were greater in horses with intestinal inflammatory disorders or strangulating intestinal obstruction than in horses with nonstrangulating intestinal obstruction. Similarly, a greater proportion of the horses that died had markedly high serum TNF activity than did horses that lived. Mortality of horses with serum TNF greater than or equal to 10 U/ml was greater than that of horses with serum TNF activity < 10 U/ml. Results indicate possible association between colic and serum TNF activity in horses and that high mortality may be associated with horses with markedly increased serum TNF activity.

peer reviewed | Gastrointestinal disorders, especially strangulating intestinal obstructions, are still a major cause of illness and death in the horse. Circulating lipopolysaccharides may activate both neutrophils and monocytes. The activated neutrophils release myeloperoxidase (MPO), a specific enzyme with strong oxidative activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate MPO concentrations in the plasma and peritoneal fluid (PF) of horses with colic and to check the hypothesis that these concentrations would be higher in a case of strangulating obstruction than in cases of nonstrangulating disease. By using a specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for equine MPO, we determined the MPO concentrations in horses admitted to a clinic for colic. Horses with nonstrangulating or strangulating obstruction of the large intestine (NSLI or SLI), strangulating obstruction of the small intestine (SSI), or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) were compared with healthy horses. The horses with SLI, SSI, or IBD had significantly higher MPO levels in plasma and PF than did those in the other 2 groups. The mean plasma level was significantly higher in the horses with NSLI than in the healthy horses. High MPO values in PF indicated necrotic bowel. These results show that neutrophil activation occurs during nonstrangulating and strangulating intestinal obstruction in horses and that the plasma and PF MPO concentrations may be a marker of the severity of the disease.

peer reviewed | Myeloperoxidase (MPO) is a specific enzyme of neutrophil azurophilic granules with a strong oxidative activity. Thanks to a radioimmunoassay of equine myeloperoxidase, the authors have observed a significantly higher plasma level of MPO in horses operated for strangulation obstruction of the large intestine (n = 6) than in horses suffering from a non-strangulating displacement of the large intestine (n = 9). For the 2 groups, 3 phases were distinguished: reception (P1), intensive care (P2) and terminal phase (P3). The mean peak values of MPO for these phases were 121.6 ng/mL (P1), 168.6 ng/mL (P2), and 107.0 ng/mL (P3) for the non-strangulating group, and 242.6 ng/mL (P1); 426.0 ng/mL (P2), and 379.5 ng/mL (P3) for the strangulation group. The variations of the mean peak values of plasma MPO were significantly different between the 2 groups and between the different phases. A significant increase of the least square means of MPO was observed between P1 and P2. A significant decrease of the least square means of the number of circulating leukocytes was observed between P1 and P3. Polymorphonuclear neutrophil activation could play a major role in the pathogenesis of acute abdominal disease and endotoxic shock.

peer reviewed | Techniques of cost-effectiveness analyses were applied to determine whether or not it is economically efficient to measure the packed cell volume (PCV) on a colic horse before deciding on abdominal surgery. The effects of this decision of uncertainty on the estimated values of the parameters (probability of survival after surgery, surgery costs, PCV positive predictive value, and length of survival after surgery) were considered along with the monetary values of collecting additional information on those parameters. The effects of uncertainty on the incremental net benefits of each alternative were depicted by tornado diagrams, cost-effectiveness acceptability curves, and posterior probability distributions. The worth of additional information was computed as the expected values of perfect and sampling information. Given previously published results, the best PCV cut-off point to distinguish between survivors and nonsurvivors was at 44%. At this threshold, the most economically effective alternative is to measure PCV before surgery providing the owner is willing to pay less than €672 for each year the horse survives. Uncertainty on probability of survival after surgery largely influenced the decision whether or not to measure the PCV, but one should spend at most €381 in research to reduce this uncertainty. A study of postoperative survival of 500 colic horses would ensure an expected gain of €370 associated with a reduction in uncertainty.

One of the most common diseases in horse breeding is colic. Colic cases are the leading cause of horse loss and economic loss in Turkey as well as the whole world. Failure to the effective management of colic is a major obstacle in obtaining the desired yield of sport horses in Turkey and it is thought that most people are away from horse breeding and equestrian sports due to this reason. The objectives of this study are to set forth the prevalence and cost of colic cases in sport horses for two years and, present the rate of recurrent colic cases in the same period respectively. Throughout the study, economical and some technical parameters related to the course of the disease were obtained between January 2017 and December 2018. Interviews and data collection were conducted from 984 sport horses in all ages and gender for 24 months. The collected data were recorded and processed in the database created via MS Excel 2010 and IBM SPSS 22 for Windows. The average cost of colic management for a 4-day treatment in 2018 was $215.60. The rate of recurrent colic cases was 48,2% and the development of laminitis was 11,9% in a year following the treatment. As a result, it was estimated that the average annual economic loss of colic in 984 horses was $36.806 in addition to horse losses. Horses that survived spontaneously, without any invasive treatment, and suffering from different disorders other than colic, were removed from the study. It is concluded that reduction of cost in colic cases and prevention of recurrent colic cases and post-colic diseases, such as laminitis, would increase horse welfare and yield from horses in Turkey.

The study included an examination of 50 local horses in different areas of Nineveh Governorate for the period starting from 1/7/2023 to 1/4/2024. The first group included 40 animals that showed signs of colic and the second group consisted of 10 clinically healthy animals that were considered a control group and of ages more than Six months, for both sexes.A clinical examination was conducted, which included recording the history of the animal's medical history condition and symptoms, and clinical manifestations including as well as measuring (body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, examining the mucous membranes of the eyes, capillary refilling time in the lower lip, and examining skin elasticity). The abdomen was then examined using a stethoscope, and sounds were recorded on the abdominal wall and on both sides of the animal&rsquo;s body. The colicky horses show a significant increase in respiratory rate by 21 cycles/minute, heart rate by 56 beats/minute, capillary refilling time by 3 seconds, and skin fold test rate by 3.7 seconds compared with the healthy controls, while the sound frequency increased when auscultating from both sides of the abdomen, it was 272.5 Hz from the left side and 249 Hz from the right side, and the result was a significant difference from the left side compared to healthy horses, in addition to a substantial increase in the sound repetition rate by 5 per minute.It has been concluded that an electronic stethoscope could be a more accurate tool for examining colicky horses.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the prognostic value of measuring heart rate variability (HRV) in horses with colic at the time of admission to a referral hospital. ANIMALS 51 horses > 1 year of age with colic (41 that survived [survivors] and 10 that died or were euthanized [nonsurvivors]). PROCEDURES HRV was recorded within 1 hour after admission by use of heart rate sensors with horses restrained in stocks. A 5-minute recording period was analyzed to obtain HRV measurements (eg, SD of R-R intervals [SDRR], root mean square of successive differences between R-R intervals [RMSSD], and geometric SDs determined from Poincaré plots [SD1 and SD2]). Variables associated with outcome (survival vs nonsurvival) were identified. Measurements were compared among diagnostic categories for colic (obstructive, inflammatory, or ischemic). RESULTS SDRR and RMSSD were significantly higher in survivors (median [25th to 75th percentile], 91.0 milliseconds [78.9 to 114.6 milliseconds] and 64.8 milliseconds [40.9 to 78.4 milliseconds], respectively) than in nonsurvivors (50.7 milliseconds [29.1 to 69.2 milliseconds] and 33.4 milliseconds [12.6 to 47.9 milliseconds], respectively). Similarly, SD1 and SD2 were significantly higher in survivors (48.3 milliseconds [28.9 to 60.9 milliseconds] and 111.3 milliseconds [93.0 to 146.6 milliseconds], respectively) than in nonsurvivors (23.7 milliseconds [8.9 to 33.9 milliseconds] and 65.1 milliseconds [33.7 to 91.9 milliseconds], respectively). The SDRR and SD2 were significantly higher for horses with obstructive colic than for horses with ischemic colic. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE Analysis of HRV in horses with colic may provide information on the underlying cause and be helpful in identifying horses less likely to survive.

Objective-To quantify peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis in equine patients with acute abdominal disease (ie, colic) caused by strangulating or nonstrangulating intestinal lesions and compare these values with values for horses undergoing elective arthroscopic surgery. Animals-20 client-owned adult horses. Procedures-Peripheral blood was collected from horses immediately prior to and 24 hours after surgery for treatment of colic (n = 10) or elective arthroscopic surgery (10), and neutrophils were counted. Following isolation by means of a bilayer colloidal silica particle gradient and culture for 24 hours, the proportion of neutrophils in apoptosis was detected by flow cytometric evaluation of cells stained with annexin V and 7-aminoactinomycin D. Values were compared between the colic and arthroscopy groups; among horses with colic, values were further compared between horses with and without strangulating intestinal lesions. Results-Percentage recovery of neutrophils was significantly smaller in preoperative samples (median, 32.5%) and in all samples combined (35.5%) for the colic group, compared with the arthroscopy group (median, 66.5% and 58.0%, respectively). No significant differences in the percentages of apoptotic neutrophils were detected between these groups. Among horses with colic, those with strangulating intestinal lesions had a significantly lower proportion of circulating apoptotic neutrophils in postoperative samples (median, 18.0%) than did those with nonstrangulating lesions (66.3%). Conclusions and Clinical Relevance-The smaller proportion of apoptotic neutrophils in horses with intestinal strangulation suggested that the inflammatory response could be greater or prolonged, compared with that of horses with nonstrangulating intestinal lesions. Further investigations are needed to better understand the relationship between neutrophil apoptosis and inflammation during intestinal injury.

A 3-day-old Appaloosa colt was examined because of acute onset of ataxia, left-sided head tilt, fever and heart murmur. The foal continued to nurse but became increasingly depressed and mild colic. On plain radiological examination, the foal was normal. Uroperitoneum was diagnosed following abdominocentesis. Postmortem examination revealed bladder rupture. The lesion was in the dorsomedial part of the bladder wall. We suggested that the cause of bladder rupture was parturient trauma. Even though the rupture was associated with trauma, the margin of rupture of bladder was clearly smooth and regular.

Diaphragmatic hernias, whether congenital or acquired (traumatic), are rarely observed in the horse. Acquired diaphragmatic hernias typically occur secondary to trauma or an increase in intra-abdominal pressure due to falling, heavy exercise, or parturition. Diaphragmatic herniorrhaphy is difficult to perform in adult horses and the horses with symptomatic diaphragmatic hernias usually die. A 10-year old, 340 kg, Jeju horse (crossbred) broodmare with sudden onset of gait disorder and a moderate emaciation was examined. Findings on physical examination included conjunctivitis, dehydration, shallow breathing, dyspnea, weaken heart beat, lack of auscultatable sounds from the gastrointestinal tract, and anorexia. Rectal temperature was 38.4℃ and respiratory rates were moderately increased. There were slight signs of acute colic. The broodmare died one day after non-specific treatment of fluids, nutriment, antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The cause of death was strangulation of the small intestine through a diaphragmatic hernia. The rent was about 2 cm in diameter and located in the central right part of diaphragm. Around 60 cm of small intestine was protruded into thoracic cavity through the rent. The cause of the hernia could not be ascertained. The broodmare had been pastured with many other horses, and the groom had not noticed any aggressive behavior among them. It was, however, speculated that trauma by stallion's attack may have been the cause of the diaphragmatic hernia, because the new horse may be the object of behaviors ranging from mild threats to seriously aggressive kicking, squealing, rearing, and biting.