Colonic Health in Hospitalized Horses Treated with Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs – A Preliminary Study

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningfagfællebedømt

  • G. van Galen
  • C. Saegerman
  • S. Hyldahl Laursen
  • Jacobsen, Stine
  • M. Andersson Munk
  • H. Sjöström
  • S. Holm Lindmark
  • D. Verwilghen

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can cause right dorsal colitis, but longitudinal clinical studies are lacking. This study investigates whether NSAID treated horses develop right dorsal colonic pathology in a clinical setting. Non-gastrointestinal hospitalized horses treated with NSAIDs >4 days, and untreated hospital-owned teaching horses and non-gastrointestinal client-owned hospitalized horses were included. All horses were monitored over time with clinical examinations (focusing on presence of colic, depression, reduced appetite, unstructured feces), ultrasonographic intestinal wall measurements, fecal occult blood tests (semi-quantitative results), and blood analysis (total protein and albumin concentrations, white blood cell and neutrophil counts). Outcomes were recorded as “ultrasonographically thickened right dorsal colon (RDC) walls”, “colitis” and “right dorsal colitis”. Findings over time were compared to baseline values and to control horses. Seventeen NSAID treated horses and 5 controls were included. NSAID treated horses developed thickened RDC walls (4/9), and subclinical and mild colitis (9/11) and right dorsal colitis (4/10), whereas all control horses remained healthy. The first changes were identified on treatment day 2. RDC walls of treated horses were significantly thicker compared to their own baseline values and compared to control horses. In conclusion, presumptive colon pathology was identified with a high incidence, starting early in the course of treatment, but with low severity. Appropriate monitoring should be advised throughout NSAID treatment. Additional research for noninvasive diagnostic tests for colon pathology is required.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer103451
TidsskriftJournal of Equine Veterinary Science
Vol/bind101
ISSN0737-0806
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2021

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
Conflict of Interest: The study was partially funded by Equidan Denmark and Boehringer Ingelheim Denmark. The authors declare that they have no further conflict of interest.

Funding Information:
The study was funded by the SCIL / EVECCS grant, Equidan and Boehringer Ingelheim Denmark.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

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