A device and technique for gastrointestinal lavage in the horse.

The research article is about the creation and application of a new device and method for gastrointestinal lavage (cleaning) in horses, referred to as the Gastro-Intestinal Lavage System (GILS).

Overview of the Gastro-Intestinal Lavage System (GILS)

• GILS is a novel device that aids in the rapid and effective clearing of indigestible matter from the stomach, large intestine, and caecum of horses. This device is designed to thoroughly break up and remove food and other debris from these body parts.
• The device is composed of a specially designed nozzle that is joined to water under high pressure and a suction mechanism. The functionality of the system hinges on the principle of irrigating the digestive tract with water and subsequently evacuating the loosened debris under a negative pressure enabled by the suction system.

Device Application Procedure

• In the intraoperative application of this technique, the GILS nozzle is introduced at the pelvic flexure of the horse through a sanitary enterotomy cuff and plastic sleeve. This helps in preventing injury to the horse and contamination of the device.
• The cleaning process is initiated by allowing water from the GILS nozzle to mix with the intestinal ingesta (animal feed) to form a formless mass or slurry.
• The subsequent vacuum application sucks in the formed slurry and transports it into a connected storage container.

Comparison with Existing Techniques

• The standard technique used was compared to a garden hose lavage, which lacks the precision and efficiency of GILS.
• In a span of less than 20 minutes, GILS demonstrated its capacity to clear 8.1 kg of large intestinal ingesta, showing rapid, thorough, and contamination-less cleaning compared to conventional methods.

Potential Applications of GILS

• The research suggests that the GILS technique can be beneficial in the surgical treatments of small colonic, caecal, rectal, and gastric impactions, as well as sand colic and colonic torsions in horses.
• Considering the ease of its application and the efficiency of the device, it seems the developed technique could serve as a valuable tool in equine healthcare and surgery.