Short-term complications after colic surgery in geriatric versus mature non-geriatric horses.

Authors: Gazzerro Deanna M, Southwood Louise L, Lindborg Sue

Journal: Veterinary surgery : VS

DOI: 10.1111/j.1532-950X.2014.12281.x PubMed: 25289944Log in to save

Summary

# Editorial Summary: Post-surgical Colic Complications in Older Horses Clinicians often approach colic surgery in geriatric horses with caution, yet evidence supporting differential outcome expectations remains limited. Gazzerro and colleagues conducted a retrospective analysis of 234 horses (78 geriatric ≥20 years; 156 mature 4–15 years) that survived anaesthetic recovery following exploratory celiotomy, examining 12 common postoperative complications including postoperative reflux, diarrhoea, inappetence, fever, leukopenia, incisional complications, thrombophlebitis, recurrent colic, and laminitis. Whilst geriatric horses presented with a higher prevalence of small intestinal strangulating lesions and demonstrated greater incidences of postoperative reflux and inappetence overall, these differences did not translate into meaningful disparities in short-term survival outcomes between age groups—both cohorts showed similar rates of hospital discharge survival regardless of whether complications occurred. These findings suggest that age alone should not be a prohibitive factor in surgical decision-making for colic cases, and that postoperative management protocols can be equally effective in geriatric horses, provided they successfully navigate the initial anaesthetic recovery phase.

Read the full abstract on PubMed

Practical Takeaways

•Age alone (geriatric vs. mature) should not be used as a primary factor in deciding whether to proceed with colic surgery, as post-operative outcomes are comparable between groups
•Monitor geriatric horses more closely for postoperative reflux and inappetence, though these complications do not appear to worsen survival
•Be aware that geriatric horses may present more frequently with strangulating small intestinal lesions, which may influence surgical decision-making and case selection

Key Findings

•Geriatric horses (≥20 years, n=78) had higher odds of small intestinal strangulating lesions compared to mature horses aged 4-15 years (n=156)
•Geriatric horses showed higher proportions of postoperative reflux and inappetence than mature horses
•Short-term survival outcomes and complication rates were similar between geriatric and mature horses after colic surgery
•No difference in postoperative reflux occurrence between age groups specifically in horses with small intestinal strangulating lesions

Conditions Studied

colicsmall intestinal strangulating lesionpostoperative refluxpostoperative diarrheapostoperative laminitispostoperative pneumoniaincisional infectionincisional dehiscence

Related References

Colic in geriatric compared to mature nongeriatric horses. Part 2: Treatment, diagnosis and short-term survival.

Southwood L L, Gassert T, Lindborg S(2010)Equine veterinary journal

Survival and complications after large colon resection and end-to-end anastomosis for strangulating large colon volvulus in seventy-three horses.

Ellis Christina M, Lynch Timothy M, Slone Donnie E, Hughes Faith E, Clark Carol K(2008)Veterinary surgery : VS

Postoperative complications and survival after enterolith removal from the ascending or descending colon in horses.

Pierce Rebecca L, Fischer Andrew T, Rohrbach Barton W, Klohnen Andreas(2010)Veterinary surgery : VS

Clinical findings associated with development of postoperative reflux and short-term survival after small intestinal surgery in geriatric and mature nongeriatric horses.

Boorman Sophie, Stefanovski Darko, Southwood Louise L(2019)Veterinary surgery : VS

End-to-Side Versus Side-to-Side Jejunocecostomy in Horses: A Retrospective Analysis of 150 Cases.

Brown Jennifer A, Holcombe Susan J, Southwood Louise L, Byron Christopher R, Embertson Rolf M, Hauptmann Joe G(2015)Veterinary surgery : VS