When to Refer a Colic Case

A vet reviews the different lesions practitioners might encounter during a colic and whether they warrant referral.
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When to Refer a Colic Case
Situations in which referral is simply not an option include a lack of finances, no trailer access or a horse that refuses to load, and personal opinion about surgery or referral off the farm. | Photo: Anne M. Eberhardt/The Horse
If your horse colicked today, what would you do? In many colic scenarios, the time spent deciding whether to transport the horse to an equine hospital for specialized care can mean the difference between life and death. For this reason, it’s important for veterinarians and owners to be able to make a quick decision about when to refer a colicking horse.

At the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Focus on Colic, held July 16-18, 2017, in Lexington, Kentucky, Jarred Williams, MS, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS-LA, ACVECC, clinical assistant professor of Large Animal Emergency Medicine at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, shared protocol for referring colic cases.

The two decision-makers for referral, he said, are the type of abdominal lesion and the owner’s opinion.

“The vet’s job is to identify the lesion as quickly as we can and educate the owner,” he said

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Alexandra Beckstett, a native of Houston, Texas, is a lifelong horse owner who has shown successfully on the national hunter/jumper circuit and dabbled in hunter breeding. After graduating from Duke University, she joined Blood-Horse Publications as assistant editor of its book division, Eclipse Press, before joining The Horse. She was the managing editor of The Horse for nearly 14 years and is now editorial director of EquiManagement and My New Horse, sister publications of The Horse.

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