Relationship between macroscopic intestinal changes and post-operative complications observed in horses with acute abdomen undergoing exploratory celiotomy

Abstract

Colic syndrome is an important disease of horses, being one of the greatest causes of death in the species. Although the literature presents correlations of prognosis in horses with acute abdomen treated by exploratory celiotomy, involving evaluations of preoperative clinical findings and hematological parameters, studies that present correlations of intraoperative findings with survival and postoperative complications are scarce. The objective of this study is to establish a score table that evaluates and relates macroscopic intraoperative changes and postoperative complications, in order to provide prognostic information on horses with acute abdomen undergoing exploratory celiotomy. For one year, horses with a diagnosis of acute abdomen and sent for exploratory laparotomy will be selected. During the surgery, macroscopic evaluations of the affected intestinal segments will be performed, with these staining of the serosa and mucosa, presence of blood-vascular stains, presence of distension, and thickness of the wall. In the postoperative period, clinical parameters such as physical examination, presence of enterogastric reflux, appetite, attitude, feces consistency, the occurrence of thrombophlebitis, incisional complications, weight, and the number of days hospitalized will be evaluated. It is hypothesized that it is possible to establish a score table that relates the macroscopic findings of the intraoperative intestinal segments with postoperative complications, in order to provide a better prediction of the prognosis of the animal with colic syndrome undergoing surgery. (AU)