Equine Colic Surgery

Signs of abdominal pain include pawing, flank-watching, lying down and rolling. Most signs of colic are caused by problems in the gastrointestinal tract and involve a form of obstruction.

We see numerous cases of colic every year and following examination of your horse (including ultrasound, laboratory tests, passage of a nasogastric tube and abdominocentesis) a prompt decision can be made to identify the cause of your horse’s colic.

While the majority of horses with colic can be treated with pain relief and fluid therapy (oral or intravenous) some horses will require more intensive treatment or emergency surgery. Early examination at the hospital is recommended to allow the best outcome for your horse.

For emergency colic surgery, horses need to be anaesthetised and a surgical incision made into the abdomen. All horses will be administered intravenous fluids, antibiotics and non-steroidal anti-inflammatories while under anaesthesia. At surgery a variety of conditions can be identified including large intestinal displacements, small and large intestinal “twists”, intussusception (telescoping of bowel segments) and physical obstructions (impaction of feed material or masses). Most of these conditions are amenable to surgical correction although in some cases removal of damaged bowel and joining of healthy segments may be required.

Post-operative management of cases is imperative for a good recovery. Following recovery from anaesthesia, horses will be moved into an intensive care stable and will be continuously monitored. Administration of intravenous fluids, antibiotics and pain relief will be provided and feed will gradually be re-introduced following surgery. All horses are closely monitored with ultrasound to determine whether intestinal motility is adequate and to determine whether any build-up of fluid is present within the stomach. Post-operative intestinal ileus (poor intestinal motility) is relatively common and can be treated with various medications.

If you are concerned that you have a horse showing signs of colic, please contact the hospital immediately on 03 8790 4922 or your referring veterinarian.

Equine Airway & Respiratory Surgery

Many performance horses exhibit problems associated with the upper airway when performing strenuous exercise. These problems usually result in the horse making a noise during exercise.

Diagnosis of the cause of the noise can sometimes be challenging however a combination of resting endoscopy and laryngeal ultrasound can help determine the cause. We also have access to perform overground or exercising endoscopy at the hospital if your horse requires further investigation.

Following determination of the cause of the noise various surgeries are able to be performed at the hospital including:

– Laryngeal “tie-back” surgery – for treatment of “roarers”

– Laryngeal advancement (tie-forward) surgery – for treatment of soft palate problems

– Epiglottic entrapment surgery

– Removal of laryngeal masses/arytenoid chondritis

– Laryngeal dysplasia

Laser surgery for a variety of upper airway complaints is commonly performed on horses standing under sedation. This surgery can now be performed at the hospital by our surgeons

Sinus disease

Sinus disease commonly causes nasal discharge. Diagnosis requires a combination of upper airway endoscopy and radiography. Causes of sinus disease include sinusitis, dental disease, sinus cysts, ethmoid haematoma and tumours. Similar to arthroscopy, minimally invasive methods for examining the sinuses are able to be performed at the hospital. These techniques are usually performed with the horse standing under sedation and local anaesthesia and have the benefit of improving visualisation and reducing the risk of haemorrhage in these patients.

Equine Dental Surgery

Dental surgery refers to procedures that affect the dental tissues or their supporting structures. Advances in quality of sedation, analgesia, and locoregional anaesthesia allow a majority of dental surgeries to be performed in the standing patient.

After accurate diagnosis, it is sometimes necessary for infected or fractured teeth to be removed and with full surgical facilities at hand, the step from diagnosis to treatment is seamless and hospitalisation times are kept to a minimum.

At South Eastern Equine Hospital we have the expertise and equipment to ensure that a large number of these cases can be successfully managed.