POSTEXERTIONAL ILEUS IN AN ARABIAN GELDING

Abdominal pain that had lasted for 12 hours was the presenting sign in a 15-year-old Arabian gelding evaluated at the Large Animal Clinic of Washington State University. The patient had successfully completed a 50-mile endurance ride on the day prior to presentation. At presentat ion, the patient was depressed and dehydrated and had injected oral me mbranes with a capillary refill time of 4 seconds. Intermittent abdomi nal pain was manifested by stretching and looking at the flank. No abn ormalities were noted during blood gas analysis of a sample of jugular venous blood. To facilitate rapid rehydration, intravenous catheters were placed in both jugular veins. Lactated Ringer's solution suppleme nted with potassium chloride was administered. During the next 3 days, the gelding's attitude and appetite returned to normal. The rapid res ponse to fluid therapy suggested a diagnosis of ileus secondary to exh austive exercise.