Veterinary procedures in horses encompass a range of medical and surgical interventions performed to diagnose, treat, and manage equine health conditions. These procedures are designed to address various health issues, from routine care to emergency interventions. Common veterinary procedures include vaccinations, dental care, lameness evaluations, reproductive services, and surgical interventions such as colic surgery or fracture repair. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the methodologies, outcomes, and advancements in veterinary procedures for horses, providing insights into their application and efficacy in equine medicine.
Verschooten F, Picavet TM.Desmitis of the fetlock annular ligament was diagnosed in 30 horses during a period of eight years. Most of the horses had been lame for a prolonged period and had chronically distended digital flexor tendon sheaths. Air tendograms demonstrated thickened palmar or plantar annular ligaments. In 25 horses the ligament was cut longitudinally; of these, 16 horses returned to full work without any difficulty and one became sound after a second operation. Follow up time varied from three months to seven-and-a-half years. None of the five untreated horses returned to work.
Suann CJ, Livesey MA.An abnormal mesocolic attachment which resulted in a stellate malformation of the left colon adjacent to the pelvic flexure was suspected to be the cause of intermittent episodes of colic in a horse. Resection and side-to-side anastomosis of the large colon at the level of the sternal and diaphragmatic flexures was performed and the horse made an uneventful recovery from surgery. Only minor serum biochemical changes were observed in the initial postoperative period. The abnormal mesocolic attachment was probably a congenital anomaly.
Hago BE, Vaughan LC.Contrast radiography was used to determine the position, shape, relationship and capacity of a number of tendon sheaths and bursae which have clinical significance in the horse. It was possible to establish the normal range of radiographic anatomy for these structures. Some variation in the extent and form of tendon sheaths were found between individual horses and between foals and adults.
Meschter CL, Tyler DE, White NA, Moore J.Thirty horses were admitted to the University of Georgia Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital with colic severe enough to warrant surgery and/or euthanasia. Gastrointestinal tracts of these 30 horses were histologically examined for morphologic changes. The horses were grouped according to cause of the colic (ie, simple obstruction, strangulation obstruction, thromboemboli, and inflammation). Lesions were graded as to severity, and grade scores were correlated with survival or nonsurvival. Mucosal changes developed distal and proximal to the primary lesion site and, although there were some di...
Brown MP, Gronwall RR, Martinez DS, Beal C.Six healthy pony foals, from 2 to 11 days of age, were given a single IM injection of amikacin sulfate (250 mg/ml) at a dosage rate of 7 mg/kg of body weight. Serum amikacin concentrations were measured serially over a 24-hour period. The mean peak serum concentration was 14.7 micrograms/ml at 0.5 hour. The elimination rate constant for amikacin was 0.24/hour, the elimination half-life was 3.0 hours, and the apparent volume of distribution was 0.58 L/kg.
Caron JP, Barber SM, Bailey JV, Fretz PB, Pharr JW.Periorbital skull fractures were diagnosed in 5 horses, and were associated with ophthalmic complications including corneal ulceration, uveitis, and entrapment of the eye by retrobulbar bone fragments. Physical examination was of greater diagnostic use than radiography. Surgical repair was performed on all horses and was associated with a more favorable postoperative appearance in horses treated acutely; however, the cosmetic results were considered acceptable in all horses. Major postoperative complications were not observed.
Martin GS, Beadle RE, Haynes PF, Watters JW.The ventral-to-dorsal height of the rima glottidis was measured from lateral pharyngeal radiographs after correction for magnification. The rima glottidis height was used to enlarge accurately endoscopic photographs of 5 horses taken before and after transection of the left recurrent laryngeal nerve. Areas of the rima glottidis and aditus laryngis were measured, using a computerized digitizer. Mean area of the aditus laryngis was 1,908 mm2 before neurectomy and 1,346 mm2 after neurectomy (P = 0.025). Mean area of the rima glottidis was 1,198 mm2 before neurectomy and 805 mm2 after neurectomy (...
Cooley PL, Wyman M.Three horses were admitted with indolent-like corneal ulcers. All horses were treated topically with antibiotics. Two horses had ulcers with redundant epithelial borders, which were debrided with cotton-tipped applicators after topical anesthesia was induced. One ulcer healed after 2 debridements. Of 2 horses treated surgically, one had complications.
Richardson DW.A technique involving internal fixation guided by arthroscopy was used to repair third carpal slab fractures in 23 horses. The technique allowed good reduction and compression of the fractures, with minimal surgical trauma. Ten of 17 horses with a 6-month or longer follow-up have returned to race successfully.
Yovich JV, McIlwraith CW.Arthroscopic surgery for osteochondral fractures of the proximal phalanx was performed on 74 fetlock joints of 63 horses for a total of 87 fractures during a 2-year period. The medial dorsal proximal aspect of the proximal phalanx of the forelimbs was most commonly involved (59 fractures), followed by the lateral aspect (26 fractures), and 2 fractures occurred in the fetlock joint of the right hindlimb. At surgery, 82 fragments were removed and 5 fragments that had healed or were embedded in the joint capsule were not removed. Of the fragments removed, 15 were fixed firmly to the proximal phal...
Hutchins DR, McClintock SA, Brownlow MA.THE technique of partially immersing a horse in a tank of normal saline was originally suggested by Smith (1978) and subsequently used in the management of clinical cases by Smith (1981) and J. R. Biffin (1980, personal communication) as a means of providing long term confinement and effective weight reduction. The term flotation is not strictly accurate because the patient is not made to float but is merely partially immersed to cause a predetermined reduction of its effective weight. The technique has potential clinical application in any situation where a conventional sling may have been us...
Skarda RT, Muir WW, Swanson CR, Hubbell JA.Seven adult horses were used to compare the cardiovascular and respiratory effects of unilateral (right side) and bilateral cervicothoracic ganglion (CTG) blockade. An 18-gauge, 25-cm needle was placed midventrally between articulations of the 1st and 2nd ribs from a cranial and paratracheal site. One gram of lidocaine HCl in aqueous solution (100 ml) was used to infiltrate the CTG. Cervicothoracic sympathetic blockade was characterized by Horner's syndrome, increased skin temperature and profuse sweating over the face, neck, and thoracic limb. Comparison of base-line data with data obtained d...
van Weeren PR, Barneveld A.A method is presented for quantitative determination of skin movement over the underlying skeletal structures during normal locomotion of the horse. The principle of the method is simultaneous visualization of the position of the skin and the underlying bony structures, by marking the bones with implanted light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and the skin with self adhesive spot labels. Recordings were made using photography.
Deegen E.With the aid of a flexible glassfibre endoscope, a 300 W cold light source and a special adapted camera, colour photographs of the upper respiratory tract of horses were taken. These pictures served to present especially the disease processes of the different areas of the upper respiratory tract which lead to a constriction of the lumen. These included proliferation in the nose, guttural pouch diseases and larynx diseases such as hemiplegia, subepiglottic cysts, epiglottic entrapment and rostral displacement of the plica palatopharyngica. Furthermore endoscopic findings of changes in the soft ...
Hon WK, Ng TB.Equine pancreatic acetone powder was extracted with an acetone-water-HCl mixture. An acid acetone powder resulted by adding a copious volume of acetone to the extract. The powder was subjected to salt fractionation, gel filtration and chromatography on CM-cellulose. Steroidogenic activity, ACTH-like immunoreactivity and opiate receptor binding activity were distributed among the CM-cellulose chromatographic fractions derived from material unretarded as well as from material retarded on Sephadex G-25. The data indicates a separation of steroidogenic and opiate receptor binding activities, and t...
Wissdorf H, Nautrup CP.The cavity, that belongs to the glans clitoridis and that has to be removed in accord with the regulations and rules for the import of horses of CEM carrier states, has not been taken up in the NAV (1983). Conform to the statements of the clinical physicians and to the declarations of the American literature the nomenclature "Sinus clitoridis" is proposed for the international use.
Sławomirski J, Głuszak J.The studies performed on spinal cords of two horses revealed that cells of the nucleus of the own dorsal horn are present in all segments of lumbo-sacral part of the spinal cord. The nucleus is composed of two parts: basal and marginal. Basal part is composed of large and medium size cells situated in 2/3 of the lower part of the grey substance of the dorsal horn. The marginal part of the described nucleus is composed of elongated and spindle shaped cells situated along the dorsal margine of the grey substance of the dorsal horn. Continuity of the nucleus in lumbo-sacral part of the spinal cor...
Firth EC.Low radial neurectomy in the left thoracic limb was performed in 4 mixed-breed weanling horses, with subsequent paralysis of the lateral and common digital extensor muscles. Weight bearing of the denervated and control limbs was discouraged by the use of special shoeing. Clinical signs of flexural deformity were not induced in the horses.
Fries RC, Clark-Price SC, Kadotani S, Stack JP, Schaeffer DJ, Lascola KM.To compare measurements of left ventricular volume and function derived from 2-D transthoracic echocardiography (2DE), transesophageal echocardiography (TEE), and the ultrasound velocity dilution cardiac output method (UDCO) with those derived from cardiac MRI (cMRI) in healthy neonatal foals. Methods: 6 healthy 1-week-old Standardbred foals. Methods: Foals were anesthetized and underwent 2DE, TEE, and cMRI; UDCO was performed simultaneously with 2DE. Images acquired by 2DE included the right parasternal 4-chamber (R4CH), left apical 4- and 2-chamber (biplane), and right parasternal short-axis...
Rutgers LJ, Merkens HW.A method of castration in stallions is reported on, in which primary closure of the wound caused by castration was attempted. Primary wound-healing occurred in 90 per cent of 110 stallions showing normally descended testicles, whereas this proportion was 97.4 per cent in thirty-eight unilaterally cryptorchid stallions in which the normally descended testicle was removed using the method described. It is concluded that the present method of castration will only be successful when surgery is carried out under strictly aseptic conditions.
Schambourg MA, Spriet M, Piccot-Crézollet C, Vaillancourt D.A yearling filly was presented for protrusion of a mass at the vulvar margins. A diagnosis of prolapse of the right uterine horn was made after vaginoscopy, transrectal palpation, and ultrasonography. It was confirmed later by biopsy of the tissue. Recovery was uneventful after easy replacement of the uterine horn. Une pouliche yearling fut présentée pour la protrusion d’une masse au pourtour de la vulve. Un diagnostic de prolapsus de la corne utérine droite fut établi à la suite de la vaginoscopie, de la palpation transrectale et de l’échographie. Le diagnostic fut confirmé par la...
Schumacher J, Brink P.To describe successful surgical treatment of urinary incontinence caused by a ruptured and/or transected urethral sphincter in a mare. Methods: Clinical report. Methods: A 7-year-old, Swedish Warmblood mare with urinary incontinence. Methods: The urethral sphincter, which had been damaged during removal of a cystic urolith, was repaired by apposing the ends of the disrupted urethralis muscle and tunica muscularis. Results: The mare was no longer incontinent after repair of the defect by apposition of the ends of the urethralis muscle and tunica muscularis. Conclusions: Transection and/or ruptu...
Rinnovati R, Xenos S, Beltrame A, Marigo A, Forni G, Morini M.A neurofibroma was excised from the subcutis on the medial side of the left thigh of a 15-year-old Warmblood gelding, which had shown lameness of the left hind limb. No other source of lameness was found. Two weeks after surgery, the horse was sound at a lameness examination.