Treatment of haemorrhage after castration by laparoscopic ligation of the spermatic cord in two horses

Abstract

Post-operative haemorrhage is a life-threatening comolication of castrations in stallions. It is considerea as one of the most frequent complications. Bleeding from the testicular artery may be caused by insufficient crushing and/or ligation of the artery, or by loosening of the ligature. The bleeding artery may be approached through the scrotal wound, or througn an incision at the level of the external inguinal ring. However, sometimes the spermatic cord has retracted into the abdomen which may make localisation of the spermatic stump rather difficult and requires general anesthesia. General anaesthesia is not without risk in these patients as their cardiovascular status may be severly compromised by heavy blood loss. In recent years laparoscopy has been successfully introduced for many indications in equine surgery. Laparoscopic procedures can be carried out in the standing, sedated and locally anaesthetised horse, without necessity for general anaesthesia. In this paper two cases are eresented in which laparoscopic techniques were used for the treatment of post-operative haemorrhages in two castrated stallions.