Blood glucose in horses with acute abdominal disease.

This research focused on the occurrence of high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, in adult horses with acute abdominal disease. It also investigated if this hyperglycemia was associated with a worse prognosis for survival in these horses. It was found that high blood sugar is common in such cases and is connected to higher chances of death during hospitalization.

Objective and Methods

The study’s main aim was to understand the frequency of hyperglycemia in adult horses suffering from acute abdominal disease and determine whether this condition impacts their survival chance till hospital discharge. The methods deployed for this research involved the analysis of medical records of 269 adult horses that had acute abdominal diseases.

• The researchers assessed the glucose data at multiple intervals: At the time of hospital admission, after admission, 24 hours post-admission, 36 hours post-admission, and 48 hours post-admission.
• They performed logistic regression analyses to evaluate the association of blood glucose concentrations with survival, and the relationship of these concentrations with surgical, small intestinal, strangulating lesions, and lesions requiring a resection.

Results

The results of the research revealed significant insight into the occurrence of hyperglycemia in such horses and its impact on their survival.

• Of the 269 horses, half had blood glucose concentrations higher than the reference range at the time of admission. Only a negligible proportion had blood glucose concentrations below the reference range, and the rest were within the acceptable range.
• Important to note that all horses that had blood glucose levels below the reference range at any point during the first 48 hours of hospitalization had strangulating intestinal lesions.
• Furthermore, horses that didn’t survive until hospital discharge displayed higher mean blood glucose concentration at admission and at all intervals after admission. They also had higher maximum and minimum blood glucose concentrations in the first 24 hours after admission.

Conclusions

The study concluded that imbalances in blood glucose concentrations are common among horses with acute abdominal diseases. Hyperglycemia is remarkably more prevalent than hypoglycemia in these horses. The study importantly found an association between hyperglycemia within the initial 48 hours of hospitalization and a worse prognosis for survival until hospital discharge.