University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine

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University of Tennessee College of Veterinary
Medicine
Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences
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Big South Fork Saddle Club Horse Clinic

• Equine
• Emergencies
• Dr. Jose R. Castro
• March 13, 2004

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When Do EmergenciesHappen?
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First Comes First

• An emergency could happen
• Any day
• Any time
• Any where
• Any horse

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But it Usually Happens

• On Friday, Saturday or Sunday
• After hours
• When you think the day is over
• When you are about to start eating!

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So

• Ready!!!

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Equine Emergencies

• Orthopedic
• Ocular
• Dystocia
• Laminitis
• C O L I C !!!

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Orthopedic Emergencies
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Orthopedic Emergencies

• Non weight-bearing
• Weight-bearing

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Orthopedic Emergencies

• Non weight-bearing
• Displaced fractures
• Luxations
• Infections
• Synovial structures
• Joints
• Bursae
• Tendon sheaths

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Orthopedic Emergencies

• Weight-bearing
• Non-displaced fractures
• Puncture wounds
• Lacerations
• Supportive structures
• Blood vessels

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Equine Lacerations

• One of the most common emergencies
• Most important step determine which structures
  are involved

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Equine Lacerations

• Lacerations that require special treatment
• Tendon and tendon sheaths
• Extensive degloving injuries
• Periosteum
• Veins and arteries
• Coronary band and hoof wall
• Joints

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Plan of Action

• Calm yourself!
• Calm your horse
• Apply direct pressure
• Apply pressure bandage
• Parameters
• Heart rate
• Confinement

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Plan of Action

• If lameness is present
• Do not move the horse
• Call the Vet
• Seek medical advice analgesics

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Equine Ocular Emergencies
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Equine Ocular Emergencies

• Corneal or eyelid laceration
• Corneal ulceration or stromal abscesses
• Uveitis
• Glaucoma
• Blunt head trauma
• Acute blindness

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Clinical Signs

• Pain
• Squinting
• Tearing
• Reluctance to maintain the eye fully open

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Clinical Signs

• Rubbing the affected eye
• Swelling of one or both eyelids
• Redness of the conjunctiva
• Corneal clouding edema or inflammation

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Plan of Action

• Always, always call the vet!
• If eyelid laceration occurs, apply pressure to
  stop the bleeding.
• Keep horse in a dark stall.
• Protect the horse from direct sunlight.
• Seek medical advice analgesics?

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Equine Dystocia
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Equine Dystocia

• Life threatening for both the mare and the fetus
• Severe abdominal pain
• Early detachment of the placenta
• Requires immediate obstetric assistance

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Equine Dystocia

• Second-stage labor is an explosive event
• It is completed quickly, usually in 15 20
  minutes

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Common Causes

• Retention of the head and neck
• Carpal flexion
• Shoulder flexion
• Footnape posture
• Flexed hock position
• Breech position

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History and Presenting Signs

• Prolonged discomfort
• Sweating
• Straining without appearance of the amnion
• Appearance of the amnion or a limb or head
  without further progress

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Primary Plan of Action

• Dont waste time!
• Call the Vet
• Keep the mare walking
• Obstetric manipulation MUST be handled only by
  professionals or personnel with vast experience

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After FoalingVet Check!

• Mare
• Parameters
• Rectal exam
• Vaginal exam

• Foal
• Parameters
• Umbilicus
• Snap Test

• Others
• Colostrum production
• Save Placenta

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Complications of the Dystocia

• Rectovaginal tears
• Uterine tears
• Metritis
• Retained placenta
• Laminitis
• Septicemia
• Death

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Retained Placenta

• Normally expelled within an hour and a half of
  foaling
• Retention beyond 3 hours is considered abnormal
• Retention for gt 3 hours call the Vet

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Equine Laminitis
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Laminitis

• Inflammation and degenerative changes of the
  lamina along the dorsal aspect of the foot.
• The forefeet are commonly affected, but laminitis
  may involve just one digit or all four feet.
• Irreversible degenerative changes to the foot can
  result from treatment delays.

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Laminitis

• Irreversible degenerative changes to the foot can
  result from treatment delays

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Laminitis

• Inflammation and degenerative changes of the
  lamina along the dorsal aspect of the foot.
• The forefeet are commonly affected, but laminitis
  may involve just one digit or all four feet.
• Irreversible degenerative changes to the foot can
  result from treatment delays.

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Precipitating Factors

• Grain overload
• Lush pasture
• Colic
• Colitis
• Strangulation / obstruction of small intestine

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Precipitating Factors

• Abdominal surgery
• Corticosteroid therapy
• Hypothyroidism / Cushings Dz
• Excessive exercise on hard surface
• Exposure to black walnut wood shavings

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Precipitating Factors

• Obesity
• Post-foaling metritis
• Systemic gram-negative bacterial infections

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Clinical Signs

• Increased digital pulses
• Heat felt over hoof wall
• Pain evident with hoof tester over toe
• Edema in the pastern region
• Reluctance to move
• Sawhorse stance

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Equine Emergencies Laminitis
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Equine Emergencies Laminitis
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Equine Emergencies C O L I C !!!
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Equine Colic
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Colic

• Colic is defined as the manifestation of
  visceral abdominal pain. It may be acute, chronic
  or recurrent
• Bradford Smith. Large Animal Internal Medicine,
  1996

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Colic

• Colic is the number one killer of horses.
• A colic is not a disease it is merely a symptom
  of a disease.

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Colic

• 10 of all colic cases are severe enough to
  require surgery or cause the death of a horse.
• The good news is that most cases of colic will
  resolve with simple medical treatment, and
  sometimes with no specific treatment.

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• EVERY COLIC CASE SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY!!!

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Colic Signs
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Depression
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Pawing
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Looking at Flanks
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Rolling
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Bruxism/ Ptyalism
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Sweating
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Flehmen Response
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Sitting in a Dog- Like Position, or Lying on
its Back
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Other Colic Signs

• Stretching out as if to urinate without doing so
• Repeatedly lying down and getting up or
  attempting to do so
• Lack of appetite (anorexia)
• Putting its head down to water without drinking

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Other Colic Signs

• Rapid respiration and/or flared nostrils
• Elevated pulse rate (gt 52 bpm)
• Cool extremities
• Absence of or reduced digestive transit time

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Why Does a Horse Colic?

• We dont know
• Either becausethe sun goes up or the sungoes
  down

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Why Does a Horse Colic?

• Lack of exercise

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Why Does a Horse Colic?

• Lack of grazing time (confinement)

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Some Factorsthat Predispose the Horse to Colic

• Parasites tapeworms
• Dental problems
• Diet
• Change in diet
• Type of diet Bermuda grass (Ileal impaction)
• Decrease water intake
• Bedding i.e. sand

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Primary Plan of Action
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Primary Plan of Action

• Keep the horse as calm as possible
• Move animal to a safe area where it is unlikely
  to be injured or cause injury to handlers
• Remove all food and water!

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Primary Plan of Action

• Keep the horse walking
• DO NOT ADMINISTER DRUGS, especially analgesics,
  tranquilizers or sedatives, unless specifically
  instructed to do so by the veterinarian.

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Finally
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Keeps!

• Keep accurate records
• Keep Vets phone number available
• Keep Emergency Vets number
• Keep Vet Hospital phone number
• Keep directions

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Sources

• Orsini Divers Manual of Equine Emergencies
  Treatment and Procedures. Saunders
• Rose Hodgson Manual of Equine Practice.
  2nd.Edition Saunders 2000
• UTCVM Class notes 2001-2003
• www.3Dglasshorse.com

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Acknowledgments

• Nicholas Frank, DVM, PhD, ACVIM UTCVM
• Frank Andrews, DVM, Ms, ACVIM - UTCVM
• Paul Plummer, DVM Medical Resident - UTCVM
• Ben Buchanan, DVM Medical Resident - UTCVM

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Acknowledgments

• Nancy Boehm, Senior Student - Class of 2004
• Lindsay German, LVT UTCVM
• Phil Snow, Medical Photographer UTCVM
• Teresa Jennings, Instructional Resources/ Graphic
  Illustration - UTCVM

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Special Thanks

• Vicky Taylor
• Big South Fork Saddle Club

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Questions ?