GI Complications Associated with Elective General Anesthesia

Researchers found that GI dysfunction occurred after 36 of the 416 procedures (about 8.7% of cases).
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Most horse owners are familiar with the risks associated with equine general anesthesia, which range from the dangers of recovery to death. Another common complication is colic. And researchers recently took their understanding of post-anesthetic colic a step further by completing a retrospective study on the topic.

Brad Nelson, DVM, MS, a PhD candidate at the Colorado State University (CSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, presented a study in which he evaluated the risk factors associated with gastrointestinal (GI) dysfunction in horses undergoing elective procedures under general anesthesia at the 2013 American Association of Equine Practitioners' Convention, held Dec. 7-11 in Nashville, Tenn.

Post-anesthetic colic (PAC) is well-recognized; occurs in 3-6% of horses; and can develop after a variety of procedures in which veterinarians employ general anesthesia, including surgery, computed tomography, and MRI. Nelson said elective surgeries are known to have complications; better characterizing what complications occur and how frequently could help veterinarians decrease the complication rate and also help them better educate clients on risks associated with their horses' surgical and anesthetic procedures.

Nelson and colleagues decided to perform a retrospective study to evaluate how many horses developed PAC or reduced fecal output that required treatment, and to identify potential risk factors for GI dysfunction

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Erica Larson, former news editor for The Horse, holds a degree in journalism with an external specialty in equine science from Michigan State University in East Lansing. A Massachusetts native, she grew up in the saddle and has dabbled in a variety of disciplines including foxhunting, saddle seat, and mounted games. Currently, Erica competes in eventing with her OTTB, Dorado.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
303 votes · 303 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!