Obstructive esophageal disorders in 61 horses included feed or foreign body impaction (27 horses), strictures (18 horses), perforations (11 horses), and diverticula (5 horses). Horses with feed impaction were treated nonsurgically (25 horses) or by esophagotomy (2 horses). Survival to discharge was 78%, and 37% of these had persistent chronic obstruction at home. Long-term survival was 52%. Long-term survival of nine horses treated nonsurgically for esophageal strictures was 22%; for nine horses treated surgically it was 44%. Long-term survival of horses treated nonsurgically was significantly better in acute than chronic strictures. Surgical repair of esophageal mural strictures was more successful than repair of annular or mucosal strictures. One third of the horses with strictures were foals. Long-term survival for horses with strictures was 33%. Long-term survival was higher for the horses with perforations managed surgically (2 of 4) than nonsurgically (0 of 7). Long-term survival for this group was 18%. One esophageal diverticulum was managed nonsurgically, and four were treated surgically; all horses survived long term. Complications of obstructive esophageal disorders included aspiration pneumonia, chronic obstruction, esophageal mucosal ulceration, postoperative infection, pleuritis, laminitis, laryngeal paralysis, and Horner's syndrome.

No abstract

Several surgical alternatives have been described for the management of cecal impaction in the horse, but none has met with consistently successful results. This study was done to evaluate a surgical bypass of the cecum by anastomosis of the ileum to the right ventral colon (ileocolostomy). A ventral midline celiotomy was performed on nine adult ponies (155-350 kg) and a mechanically stapled 10 cm side-to-side ileocolostomy was created. In five ponies a complete cecal bypass (CCB) was created by transecting the ileum distal to the anastomosis. In the other four, an incomplete cecal bypass (ICB) was created with no interruption of the ileum. Six horses with clinical cecal impaction also underwent cecal bypass procedures. Five had a CCB and one had an ICB. All the ponies maintained body weight, had no change in consistency of the feces and had no abdominal pain during the 6 month observation period. At necropsy, the lengths of the lateral cecal band, lateral free band of the colon, and the diameter of the anastomotic stoma were compared to measurements made at surgery. The lateral cecal band length decreased significantly more in the CCB ponies than in the ICB ponies (p = 0.008). The anastomotic stoma diameter was significantly larger in the ICB group than in the CCB group (p = 0.032). Five of the six clinical cases recovered and returned to their previous activity. CCB by an ileocolostomy resulted in removal of the cecum from the functional flow of ingesta without complication in the ponies, and was successful in five clinical cases of cecal impaction.