EVALUATION OF EXPLORATORY LAPAROTOMY IN YOUNG HORSES - 102 CASES (1987-1992)

Objective-To determine, in a population of young horses, whether a var iation exists among neonates, sucklings, weanlings, and yearlings rega rding recovery from anesthesia, short-and long-term survival rates, an d postoperative adhesion formation following exploratory laparotomy. D esign-Retrospective study. Animals-102 horses < 25 months old that und erwent exploratory laparotomy. Procedure-Pre-, intra-, and postoperati ve information was retrieved from medical records, conversations with referring veterinarians, owners, or trainers, and race records. Surviv al rates (recovery from anesthesia and short-and long-term survival) w ere compared with age, lesion type, lesion location, surgical procedur e, and development of clinically important postoperative intestinal ad hesions. Results-Of the 73 horses that recovered from anesthesia, 69 w ere available for follow-up. Of the 69 horses, 7 (10%) died of complic ations associated with formation of intestinal adhesions. Age did not affect incidence of adhesion formation, lesion type, lesion location, or surgical procedure performed. Long-term survival rate after surgery for correction of a small-intestinal lesion was 34%, whereas that aft er surgery for correction of a large-intestinal lesion was 65%. Clinic al Implications-Surgical treatment of colic in young horses resulted i n survival rates that are similar to those reported for mature horses. The incidence of clinically important postoperative adhesions was gre ater than that found for young horses in earlier studies. This may be the result of the younger age of our study population. Alternatively, improvements in operative techniques and postoperative management may allow a larger percentage of horses to survive long term and develop c omplications such as adhesion formation.