Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Obstructive enterolith in an 11-month-old miniature horse.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 1992
- Authors:
- Peloso, J G et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
An 11-month-old miniature horse weighing 68 kg was found to have an obstructive enterolith, which is a type of stone that can block the intestines. The horse had been showing mild, intermittent belly pain for about a day. X-rays showed that parts of its intestines were swollen with gas, and there was a dense structure near the left kidney. During surgery, the veterinarians noticed bleeding and discoloration in the intestine near the stone, and unfortunately, the intestine ruptured while they were trying to remove it. They discovered that the stone was made of ammonium magnesium phosphate and contained a piece of canvas cloth. This case is unusual because horses typically develop these stones at an older age, with the youngest previously reported being 4 years old. The treatment involved surgery, and while the details of the outcome are not specified, the situation was serious given the complications during the procedure.
Abstract
An obstructive enterolith was diagnosed in an 11-month-old 68-kg miniature horse with a 24-hour history of mild, intermittent colic. Abdominal radiography revealed gas distention of the cecum and the right and left ascending colon, and a radiodense elliptical structure in the area of the left kidney. During exploratory laparotomy, the right dorsal colon was noticed to contain ecchymotic hemorrhage and generalized discoloration in the portion proximal to the location of the enterolith. While exteriorizing the ascending colon, it ruptured caudal to the diaphragmatic flexure in the right dorsal colon. Radiography of the enterolith did not reveal a metallic center, but division of the stone allowed identification of a canvas cloth, and chemical analysis determined the stone's composition to be ammonium magnesium phosphate. Although equine enteroliths were reported over 100 years ago and the factors involved in their formation were investigated, the reasons for their development have yet to be determined. The mean reported age of horses requiring abdominal surgery because of an obstructive enterolith is 10 years, with the youngest being 4 years. The time required for an enterolith to enlarge is unknown, although a true enterolith has not been reported in horses younger than 4 years of age.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1293119/