Inflammatory markers in horses’ blood might tell veterinarians when the animals are at risk for adverse events after surgery.

“Monitoring the recovery of the patient closely in the postoperative period allows the surgeon to detect infection and other complications of the surgical procedure early, thus increasing the chance of successful treatment and minimizing problems with healing of the surgical wound,” said Stine Jacobsen, DVM, PhD, of the University of Copenhagen.

Veterinarians often measure the white blood cell (WBC) count because it increases if there is an infection. But WBC counts might not be the best measurement: some horses with low WBC counts might have infections and some with higher counts might not.

“This makes it difficult to determine, whether a measured level is indeed pathological or not,” she said. “The best inflammatory markers are those with a narrow reference range (i.e. levels in healthy individuals are very similar) and with a large magnitude of response, which means that high levels are released by the immune system