Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Foal with umbilical cord hernia and intestine out - what to know
By Gough, Rachel et al.·Published in Journal of equine veterinary science·2022·Donnington Grove Veterinary Group, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Umbilical Cord Herniation With Small Intestinal Evisceration in Two Thoroughbred Neonates.
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
This report discusses two cases involving newborn Thoroughbred horses that had a serious issue where part of their intestines came out through their umbilical cords, which were normally attached. This happened right after they were born without any complications during delivery. While umbilical cord herniation is a known problem in humans, it hasn't been reported in horses before. Unfortunately, one of the foals died before getting help, but the other foal had surgery to remove part of its intestine and was able to recover and go on to race successfully. This highlights how important it is to act quickly and appropriately when such issues arise on a farm.
Abstract
This report describes two cases of spontaneous small intestinal evisceration via normally inserted umbilical stumps, without abdominal wall trauma. Both cases occurred immediately following uneventful parturition. The authors believe that these represent cases of umbilical cord herniation. This is a well-recognised condition in humans, but has not been previously described in equines. One foal died before veterinary intervention. The second foal underwent a jejunal resection with end-to-end anastomosis and survived to successfully race. This report describes a previously unrecognised condition and highlights the importance of rapid and appropriate intervention on farm.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35430232/