Acquired incarcerated inguinal hernia: a review of 13 horses.

The research is a review of 13 cases of horses suffering from inguinal hernia, which is a condition where part of the intestines bulge through a weak spot in the lower abdominal muscles. The symptoms, treatment, and post-operative outcomes for the horses involved, which include a high recovery rate, are discussed in the paper.

Introduction and Method

• The researchers reviewed medical records of 13 horses that were diagnosed with acquired incarcerated inguinal hernia. This type of hernia occurs when an organ or fatty tissue squeezes through a weak spot in the surrounding muscle or connective tissue, in this case, the intestines through the lower abdominal muscles especially around the groin area.
• The medical records spanned the duration of January to August 1983. The horses’ ages in the records ranged from 1 to 17 years.

Findings

• Most of the instances were in stallions (9 out of 13). Four other cases involved eventration (protrusion of abdominal organs)
• Post-castration eventration occurred within a period ranging from 5 hours to 48 hours after the operation.
• The horses displayed varying degrees of colic, a severe, often fluctuating pain in the abdomen that is caused by the spasmodic contraction of the intestine or other musculature.
• The physical features of the scrotum in the horses varied considerably.

Treatment and Post-operative Outcomes

• In most cases, a bowel was felt to pass through the internal inguinal ring, this was determined through a rectal examination on the horses.
• Three of the patients required resection, which is a surgical removal, of the ischemic jejunum (a part of the small intestine) and/or ileum (final section of the small intestine).
• Two of the horses were euthanized during the surgery due to complications including one with bilateral ischemic jejunum, and another with a bowel perforation.
• Yet another horse was euthanized on the 16th day after the surgery due to the development of multiple adhesions. (Adhesions are bands of scar tissue that bind together surfaces inside the body that are normally separate).
• All stallions were castrated as part of the treatment.
• Post-treatment follow-ups extended from 6 months to 24 months after treatment, with an average follow-up time of approximately 13 months.
• Outcomes of these post-treatment check-ups revealed that all 10 remaining horses were alive and in good health, providing a recovery rate of about 77%