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.
Merkens HW, Rutgers LJ.To gain an insight into the procedures adopted in castrating stallions in the Netherlands, a questionnaire was sent to 670 Dutch veterinary practitioners. The 176 veterinary practitioners who replied performed 1850 castrations. Castration of the recumbent horse was preferred by 88 per cent of the veterinary surgeons. Fifty per cent preferred the open method of castration and 44 per cent the half-closed technique. A local anaesthetic was given by 65 per cent of the practitioners; 84 per cent administered antibiotics in an attempt to prevent wound infection. Postoperative complications were obse...
Rutgers LJ, Merkens HW.The half-closed method of castration involves ligation of the spermatic cord enclosed in the vaginal tunic, the testicle itself lying outside the opened vaginal tunic. Of 497 horses and ponies admitted to the Department of Large Animal Surgery and castrated using this technique, 68.6 per cent recovered without complications. Although the most serious postoperative complications such as intestinal eventration and haemorrhage of the spermatic cord may be reduced to a minimum by this approach, normal healing cannot be guaranteed under the circumstances in which this method was used.
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.
Fretz PB, Donecker JM.The outcome of surgical treatment of angular limb deformities in 29 foals was evaluated through long-term monitoring of athletic performance. Foals were placed into 1 of 2 groups, depending on the site of the angular limb deformity. In group 1 foals, the deformity involved the carpus of distal end of the radius. In group 2 foals, the deformity involved the distal end of the 3rd metacarpal or metatarsal bone. Group 1 contained 20 foals and group 2 contained 11 foals. Two foals were in both groups. Sixteen foals in group 1 and 4 foals in group 2 progressed to some form of athletic use. The under...
Robertson JT, Muir WW.A xylazine and butorphanol drug combination produced minimal and transient hemodynamic effects and no significant respiratory depression when administered to 6 healthy horses. Combining xylazine and butorphanol produced a synergistic analgesic effect and provided good chemical restraint for a standing surgical procedure.
Linford RL, O'Brien TR, Wheat JD, Meagher DM.A lateral radiograph of the pharyngeal region provides a technique for identifying pharyngeal disorders, including entrapment of the epiglottic cartilage and dorsal displacement of the soft palate. Epiglottic cartilage length, predicted from radiographs by measurement from the body of the thyroid cartilage to the tip of the epiglottis (thyroepiglottic length), was well correlated to actual length at postmortem examination (r2 = 0.98). Thyroepiglottic length, corrected for magnification, was 8.76 +/- 0.44 cm in 24 healthy Thoroughbreds. Nine Thoroughbreds with entrapment of the epiglottic carti...
Blythe LL, Kitchell RL, Holliday TA, Johnson RD.Normal nerve conduction velocity values in 10 ponies were determined for sensory nerve fibers in the median and ulnar nerves. A percutaneous signal-averaging technique was developed and used. Medial and lateral palmar digital nerves on the abaxial surface of the proximal sesamoid bones were used as the sites for percutaneous stimulation, whereas recording sites included the medial and lateral palmar nerves just distal to the carpus and the median and ulnar nerves in the middle of the radius. Sensory nerve conduction velocities can be evaluated simply and clinically in the limbs of horses, usin...
Sanderson GN, O'Callaghan MW.This article describes the gross radiographic anatomy of the equine thorax observed on the lateral radiographic projection. The descriptions presented were derived from a retrospective study of a large number of thoracic radiographs of cases referred to the Massey University clinic in conjunction with research studies in bronchography, angiography and in vitro contrast techniques. The characteristics of the thoracic bony structures, the vasculature, and the airways are examined separately; followed by a discussion of the relative contribution of the various structures to the overall thoracic r...
Spurlock GH, Gabel AA.One-hundred and nine apical fractures of the proximal sesamoid bones were diagnosed in Standardbred racehorses at the Ohio State University Veterinary Hospital during a 5-year period ending December 1978. Lateral sesamoids of the hindlimbs accounted for 61 of the 109 fractures, which was a significantly (P less than 0.05) greater proportion than that for fractures in all other sesamoid bones. Two- and three-year-old horses accounted for 73 of the 109 apical sesamoid fractures. The remaining 36 apical sesamoid fractures were in horses 4 to 9 years old. The apical fragment was removed in 80 of t...
Dik KJ, Nemeth F.Six cases of patella fractures are reported. Three horses presented an avulsion fracture of the medial patellar angle. For a precise diagnosis of this fracture a radiographic skyline view was indispensable; lateral views were not diagnostic. One of these horses recovered after three months' rest but radiographically the fracture remained visible. One horse with a comminuted fracture recovered after five months' rest. A case with a contaminated longitudinal patella fracture was destroyed. The sixth horse had a chip fracture of the dorsomedial part of the patella. The outcome of this case is unk...
Keay G, Doxey DL.Serum albumin concentrations were measured by the immediate reacting bromocresol green (BCG) method and by agarose gel electrophoresis in healthy cattle, sheep and horses. No statistically significant differences were found between the values obtained by the two methods. The immediate reacting BCG method is quicker and cheaper when used under the conditions described.
Caudron I, Grülke S, Gabriel A, Serteyn D.This study is a part of a work to design a radiographical method to objectively define the conformation of an equine digit and to assess the individual appropriate trimming of a horse. Various angles were measured directly from the phalangeal bones. The authors observed that the bone relief of the sesamoid ligament insertions on the proximal phalanx was an essential landmark to determine the phalangeal alignment. The same angles were measured from specific radiographs and made it possible to quantify the rotation imposed to the proximal phalanx. The authors also noticed that the phalangeal rot...
Adams OR, Schneider RK, Bramlage LR, Easley KJ, Schneider JE.Suprascapular nerve decompression has proven to be a useful treatment for refractory neuropraxia in horses. The surgical procedure used to effect that decompression is described. The surgery can be undertaken when conservative treatment has failed, but the sooner the surgery is done, the more likely the muscle mass is to be cosmetically satisfactory.
Phillips AW, Courtenay JS, Ruston RD, Moore J, Baker C, Epps HB.A simple apparatus is described for the collection of plasma from horses while maintaining their blood in extracorporeal circulation. Using this device, nearly 2.5 kg of plasma protein was collected from a horse during a period of 3 weeks without any obvious adverse effect upon the animal. The blood’s packed cell volume showed little variation throughout this period, although its content of plasma protein was found to fall. The normal plasma protein level was almost completely re-established after 3 weeks rest. A horse immunized with tetanus toxoid and subjectcd to repeated cycles of plasmap...
King JM, Flint TJ, Anderson WI.A newly described congenital heart anomaly, the incomplete subaortic stenotic ring was detected at necropsy in four dogs, one cat, one cow, one horse, one sheep and one pig. These structures were grossly and histologically similar to complete subaortic stenotic rings, being composed of variably dense interlacing bands and sheets of fibrous connective tissue. In all nine cases, their presence at necropsy was considered an incidental finding.
Rhoads WS, Parks AH.A 10-year-old castrated male pony was examined for intermittent signs of abdominal pain of 3 days' duration. An incarceration of the small colon through a rent in the gastrosplenic ligament was found. Resection and end-to-end anastomosis were performed on the affected portion of the small colon. The pony recovered and returned to its previous degree of activity. Incarceration of the small intestine and large colon through rents in the gastrosplenic ligament are documented, although involvement of the small intestine is more common. To the best of our knowledge, incarceration of the small colon...
Lillich JD.Both retrospective data and clinical experience indicate that complications of dental surgery are occasionally encountered and, to some extent, are inevitable. Many of the reported complications related to dental surgery such as incomplete removal of diseased teeth or removal of the wrong tooth can be avoided with sound preoperative planning and intraoperative technique. Diseased teeth should be properly identified prior to and during surgery. In addition, complete removal of the diseased tooth must be performed. Use of intraoperative radiographic examination to confirm the location of the dis...