Dysphagia in an equine referral hospital, 182 cases.

The research examines dysphagia, a symptom indicating disorders in the oral, pharyngeal, or oesophageal areas in horses, and its prevalence, causes, treatment, and results in a referral hospital over 12 years. The study finds out that dysphagia is relatively rare in hospitalized equines, and though the prognosis is generally good, horses with neurogenic dysphagia recover less often compared to those with other forms of the condition.

Research Objective and Methodology

• The primary objective of the research was to understand the incidence, history, causative factors, treatment methods, and outcomes of dysphagia in horses presented at a referral hospital.
• The research was conducted retrospectively by reviewing case files over a 12-year span, specifically those for patients older than six months exhibiting at least one clinical sign of dysphagia and with a clear diagnostic etiology.
• The cases selected were further categorized based on the causes of dysphagia: oral, pharyngeal, oesophageal, and neurogenic, depending on the recorded diagnosis.
• Data on treatment methods, patient survival, and dysphagia resolution were also recorded and analyzed.

Findings

• The research showed that only about 1.1% of all cases were diagnosed with dysphagia, with a total of 182 cases meeting the inclusion criteria of this study.
• For the different causative categories of dysphagia, resolution of clinical signs was observed in more than 80% of the cases – except in the case of neurogenic dysphagia, where recovery was observed only in 46% of the cases.
• Aspiration pneumonia emerged as a common sequel to dysphagia.

Conclusions and Limitations

• Dysphagia, according to the research findings, occurs infrequently in hospitalized horses.
• Most forms of dysphagia have a good prognosis, but dysphagia of neurogenic origin poses more treatment challenges, and its resolution occurs less frequently than other forms.
• The retrospective nature of the study and limitations in the medical records were identified as constraining factors in the research. As such, the horse population in this study might not perfectly represent all horses suffering from dysphagia.