Survival rates for horses undergoing stapled small intestinal anastomosis: 84 cases (1988-1997).

This is a study exploring the survival rates in horses that underwent stapled small intestinal anastomosis, a surgical procedure connecting parts of the intestine, with a specific emphasis on different locations and types of procedures. It found that horses that underwent specific types of anastomosis, namely jejunoileocecostomy without resection, generally had higher survival rates than those in other procedure categories.

Research Methodology

• The study is retrospective in nature, looking back on the medical records from 1988 to 1997.
• It specifically focused on 84 horses that underwent small intestinal anastomosis procedures.
• These horses were divided into four groups based on the type of anastomosis they underwent: jejunojejunostomy, jejunoileostomy, jejunoileocecostomy with small intestinal resection, and jejunoileocecostomy without small intestinal resection.

Results of the Study

• The results indicated that horses undergoing jejunoileocecostomy without resection traditionally had significantly higher survival rates at all intervals compared to those from the other three groups.
• Horses that underwent jejunojejunostomy had a significantly lower survival rate 180 and 365 days after surgery compared to those that underwent jejunoileocecostomy with intestinal resection.
• Horses that underwent jejunoileocecostomy with intestinal resection also had a significantly higher survival rate at 1 year compared with the combined jejunojejunostomy and jejunoileostomy groups.
• The Preoperative heart rate of the horse was found to be inversely related to survival rates – implying that a lower heart rate before surgery might lead to higher survival rates.
• In all, the overall survival rates at discharge and 1 year were 81 and 56%, respectively. For horses specifically subjected to some form of small intestinal resection, these rates were somewhat lower, at 65% and 47%, respectively.

Conclusions of the Study

• The study concludes that horses which underwent the anastomosis of the small intestine to the cecum – a part of the intestine blind in one end and connecting to the large intestine, without the need for resection, typically had the highest survival rates.
• In certain cases, resection and anastomosis involving the cecum had a better prognosis than resections involving two segments of the small intestine.