Prognosis in Equine Medical and Surgical Colic

Abstract

A retrospective study was performed on 649 horses admitted to the Clinic of Equine Internal Medicine (Utrecht University) for gastrointestinal colic. The aim of this study was to provide a better guideline for determining prognosis in horses with colic. Short‐ and long‐term survival were evaluated, and Cox regression analysis was performed to identify the clinical and clinico‐pathologic variables usable to predict survival. Intestinal displacements and strangulations were the most frequently diagnosed causes of colic. Regarding the surgically treated horses, 54% were discharged and 88% of these were still alive after 1 year. In comparison, 85% of medically treated patients were discharged and 93% were still alive after 1 year. Only 4.4% of all long‐term survivors did not return to the expected level of performance, and 32% suffered from recurrent colic. Duration of colic signs, heart rate, intestinal motility, skin tenting, level of pain, and gross appearance of peritoneal fluid were shown to be significantly associated with survival. White blood cell count, packed cell volume, blood pH, and color of the mucous membranes did not show any prognostic significance. Thus, clinical variables appeared to be the most relevant predictors of the outcome of gastrointestinal colic.