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Peer-reviewed veterinary case report

Small intestinal incarceration through the lateral ligament of the urinary bladder in a horse.

Journal:
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Year:
1993
Authors:
Hawkins, J F et al.
Affiliation:
Department of Large Animal Medicine and Surgery · United States
Species:
horse

Plain-English summary

A 14-year-old, 569-kilogram, castrated Quarter Horse was found to have a section of its small intestine trapped through a ligament near the urinary bladder. The veterinarians performed surgery to fix this issue, which involved removing about 70 centimeters of the small intestine and reconnecting it. After the surgery, the horse showed signs of slow gut movement and lameness in one leg, and within a day, it developed a painful condition in all four feet. Unfortunately, due to a very poor outlook for recovery, the horse was euthanized, and a tear was discovered in the ligament during the post-mortem examination, though the cause of this tear was not identified.

Abstract

Small intestinal incarceration through the lateral ligament of the urinary bladder was diagnosed in a 14-year-old, 569-kg, castrated Quarter Horse. The incarceration was corrected by ventral midline celiotomy. Approximately 70 cm of the middle portion of the jejunum was resected and end-to-end, single-layer anastomosis was performed. After surgery, the horse developed signs of adynamic ileus and lameness in the right forelimb. The horse developed laminitis in all 4 feet within 24 hours of surgery. The horse was euthanatized because of poor prognosis for survival. At necropsy, a 4.5-cm rent was found in the left lateral ligament of the urinary bladder. The cause of the rent in the ligament of this horse was not determined.

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Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8380570/