Equine inflammatory response to abdominal surgery in the absence of gastrointestinal disease

Abstract

Objective To investigate the, equine inflammatory response to ventral midline celiotomy in the absence of gastrointestinal disease in horses of varying body condition scores primarily using serial measurements of serum amyloid A (SAA). Design Experimental clinical study. Setting University teaching hospital. Animals Ten adult light breed horses free of any clinical disease, 5 with body condition score (BCS) 3–4/9 and 5 with BCS 7–8/9. Interventions Horses had a ventral midline celiotomy performed under general anesthesia, including manual decompression of the small intestine. SAA, semiquantitative fibrinogen, plasma lactate, and WBC count were measured in the blood preoperatively and at 12, 24, 48, 72, 120, and 168 hours postoperatively. Complete serum biochemistry was performed preoperatively and 24 and 72 hours postoperatively. Serial abdominocentesis was also performed with peritoneal fluid analysis of SAA, total protein, lactate, WBC count, and cytology. Measurements and main results Significant (P < 0.05) increases in serum SAA were noted at 12, 24, and 48 hours postoperatively (124.6 ± 68.6, 390.8 ± 209.0, 568.6 ± 197.7 μg/mL), and most horses had values approaching normal at 168 hours postoperatively (174.4 ± 307.7 μg/mL). Other values such as fibrinogen also increased in response to surgery but did not return to normal within the measured time points. Horses with high BCS did not have significantly different serum SAA compared to horses with low BCS. Peritoneal fluid SAA did not increase significantly at 12 hours postoperatively. Conclusions The information from this study can be used to help determine the effect of anesthesia and surgical intestinal manipulation resulting in increased SAA when a comparison to clinical or experimental cases is needed.

Horse Grimace Scale Does Not Detect Pain in Horses with Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome

“…Serum amyloid A was used as an exclusion criterion as a concurrent systemic inflammation or an infection of an unknown origin might interfere with HGS. Serum amyloid A measurements were performed as previously described with the use of a validated point of care, stall-side, handheld device (StableLab ®, , Zoetis, Rhodes, NSW, Australia) [27,28]. Blood collection for SAA measurement was performed after HGS photographs were taken.…”

Use of serum amyloid A in equine medicine and surgery

“…Increased concentrations of SAA and other APPs (haptoglobin and fibrinogen) have been detected in peritoneal fluid after experimental exploratory laparotomy 45,46 and in horses with abdominal disease such as intestinal strangulations and inflammatory conditions (acute enteritis, typhlocolitis, or peritonitis) 36,47 . Measuring APPs in peritoneal fluid could thus have diagnostic potential.…”