Abdominal Surgery
Colic Surgery
Good feeding, vaccination, and deworming practices can help prevent some types of colic however, an episode of colic can strike even the healthiest horse without warning. Owners should be aware that any horse can experience a life-threatening colic episode and may require emergency surgery. Many types of colic can be treated successfully at the farm by your horse's regular veterinarian, but other types may require hospitalization, intensive care, and sometimes even surgery to resolve the colic episode. In the past, colic surgery was often unsuccessful, but advances in equine surgery and anesthesia have dramatically increased the survival rate of horses undergoing abdominal (colic) surgery, making it one of the more common major surgeries performed on horses today. Survival rates upwards of 80% are now able to be obtained as proven by numerous studies performed in recent years.
Signs of Colic
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Treating Colic
Getting your veterinarian involved from the start is integral to the success of treating your horse for colic. Here are some of the things to expect when your horse is treated for colic:
1.) Physical Examination
In order to ensure you horse is treated properly, your veterinarian will begin with a physical examination - starting with temperature, heart rate and respiratory rate. They will also look at the horse's mucous membranes (the gums of the mouth) and capillary refill time (the time it takes for the spot on the gums to turn pink again after pressing your finger on the gums just enough to blanch the tissue), both of which help assess the cardivascular status of the horse. He or she will listen to the gastrointestinal sounds in the abdomen and listen to the lungs for any abnormal noises. All of these tasks will assist your veterinarian in developing a plan suited for your horse.
2.) Rectal Examination
This examination is performed in order to help diagnose the different types of colic. Equine veterinarians are trained to recognize different internal organs by feel and they can use this exam to help decide which part of the intestinal tract is affected in a colic episode.
3.) Nasogastric intubation
This is a special long tube that is inserted in your horse's nose, down the esophagus and into the horse's stomach. In some types of colic, fluid backs up into the stomach from the intestines. Because horses can't vomit, fluid can build up in the stomach and distend it, causing severe pain and even rupture of the stomach. As part of a colic examination, your veterinarian can pass the nasogastric tube and check for fluid build-up in the stomach. If there is no fluid in the stomach, your vet will often administer mineral oil, epsom salts or electrolytes and water directly into the stomach to treat impaction types of colic.
4.) Supportive care and intravenous fluids
Horse recieving IV fluids
Some types of colic, such as an impaction colic, respond best to limited or no feeding while having administration of large amounts of intravenous fluids. Many horses suffering from colic become extremely dehydrated, which further complicates the situation. These horses may also require intravenous pain medication to provide comfort.
5.) Colic Surgery
When horses do not resolve with medical treatment of fluids and pain medication, then surgery is recommended to fix the problem.
The horse is anesthetized and placed on his back on a padded surgery table. The abdomen is shaved and prepared for sterile surgery. An incision is made down the center of the abdomen in order to visualize the intestines. The surgeon examines the intestines and corrects the problem causing the pain. Most often, a simple problem is encountered like a displacement of a piece of intestine. Occassionally, this may involve removing a segment of damaged intestine and suturing the two healthy ends together (resection and anastomosis)
 Resection and anastamosis |  Stramgulating lipoma with compramized small intestine  Normal appearing small intestine |
