Complicated colic case raises interesting questions: What can we learn?

Identification, Management and Outcome of Postoperative Hemoperitoneum in 23 Horses After Emergency Exploratory Celiotomy for Gastrointestinal Disease

“…Abdominal ultrasonography will reveal characteristic echogenic, swirling fluid and was used to assess the postoperative abdomen in 9 horses. Performing a packed cell volume analysis on the hemorrhagic abdominal fluid is not only diagnostic, but useful to try to determine actual volume of blood loss . The packed cell volume of hemoperitoneum fluid is typically lower than the peripheral blood, which is important in differentiating hemoperitoneum from a splenic sample, in which case, the value will be higher than peripheral blood.…”