Survey of complications and antimicrobial use in equine patients at veterinary teaching hospitals that underwent surgery because of colic.

The research article aims to evaluate how antibiotics are used in treating horses with colic in veterinary teaching hospitals. The use of antibiotics is found to be fairly uniform across the hospitals, with the duration depending on the type of colic and surgical findings.

Methods

• The researchers developed a web-based survey and invited 85 surgeons associated with American College of Veterinary Surgeons to participate. These surgeons were all working in veterinary teaching hospitals across the United States and were responsible for performing equine surgery.
• The survey was divided into three sections. The first section collected demographic data and general information about the number of colic surgeries performed. The second section sought information on nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections. The third section presented different case scenarios and asked the respondents to determine if they would use antibiotics in those situations.

Results

• Out of 85 surgeons, 34 responded to the survey, representing a 40% response rate. Their responses indicated that most horses undergoing surgery for colic at these veterinary teaching hospitals were treated with antibiotics.
• The type of drugs used for treatment were similar across the different hospitals. In general, the kind of antibiotics used were not highly variable, regardless of the colic type. However, the duration of the antibiotic treatment tended to differ depending on the type of colic and surgical findings. Most commonly, a combination of potassium penicillin and gentamicin was utilized for treatment.

Conclusions

• The findings from this study highlight the current practice of using antibiotics perioperatively in horses with colic undergoing surgery.
• Although these practices seem to follow recommendations in several veterinary texts, the necessity for long-term antibiotic treatment in horses with colic remains unestablished.