Outcome of Surgical and Medical Management of Cecal Impaction in 150 Horses (1991-2011).

The research article discusses a retrospective case study comparing the short and long-term outcomes of horses with cecal impaction, treated through either surgical or medical management. The study finds that while horses managed surgically had better survival chances at hospital discharge, there wasn’t much difference observed in the one-year survival rates between two surgical treatment forms: typhlotomy and jejunocolostomy.

Study Background and Methods

• The study relied upon data collected from the medical records of 150 horses diagnosed with cecal impaction from 1991-2011.
• Information pulled from these records included signalement, recent disease history or surgical procedure, admission data, and treatment methods (whether medical or surgical).
• The two primary outcome measures were short-term survival, denoted by whether horses were alive or dead at the time of discharge, and long-term survival, i.e., alive or dead one year after treatment.
• To attain these outcomes, researchers conducted telephone interviews.
• All the collected data was then analyzed using a χ(2) or Fisher’s exact test, with a level of significance set at p < .05.

Study Findings

• Of the total horses, 68% had a history of recent disease or surgical procedure.
• 25% of the horses had cecal perforation at the time of admission.
• Out of 109 treated horses, 54% were managed medically while 46% were managed surgically.
• The survival rate at hospital discharge was lower for medically managed horses (61%) compared to surgically managed horses (82%). This difference was statistically significant.
• However, there was no significant survival difference at discharge or one year thereafter between horses treated with typhlotomy alone and those who underwent jejunocolostomy.

Conclusions

• In comparison to previous studies, this investigation demonstrated lower survival rates for horses with cecal impaction at hospital discharge, regardless of the management method used.
• However, medically treated horses showed decreased survival rates than their surgically treated counterparts.
• Interestingly, there was no substantial distinction in survival rates between the two surgical management methods studied – typhlotomy and jejunocolostomy – either at discharge or one year post-treatment.