Medical Colic 1 Flashcards
What are the three types of medical colic?
Spasmodic
Gas
Impaction
(Undiagnosed)
What are the P’s of colic in horses?
Pain
Passage of time
Pulse
Pass a tube
Palpate per rectum
Peritoneal fluid
PCV
Pyrexia
Per abdominal ultrasonography
What analgesia should you give to horses with mild to moderate colic pain?
IV phenylbutazone
What drug can you use to aid rectal examination?
Hyoscine (Buscopan)
What is spasmodic colic?
Spasm of muscle layers in small intestine.
What are the two spasmolytic agents available for spasmodic colic?
Buscopan - hyoscine/butylscolpolamine
Buscopan Compositum - butylscolpolamide + dipyrone (weak NSAID)
What NSAIDs can you you use for spasmodic colic?
Phenybutazone or half dose flunixin or (carprofen/ketofen/meloxican)
List six risk factors for gas colic.
Diet change
Rich grass
Rich haylage
>2kg concentrate in any one meal
Parasites
Poor dentition
What are the rectal findings in a gas colic and what can this be confused with?
Rectal - gas distended but still squishy viscus. This can be confused with a LI displacement or a LI torsion.
How would you treat a gas colic?
Treat as you would in a spasmodic colic AND stomach tube with water (~1L/100kg) as will activate the gastro-colic reflex.
Gentle trot lunging may help.
Where do 40% of impaction colics occur?
At the pelvic flexure
Where do 40% of impaction colics occur?
At the pelvic flexure
Where do impactions tend to occur?
Just oral to sites of intestinal narrowing and/or active pacemakers.
List 5 risk factors of LI impactions.
Reduced water intake
Physical exertion (sweating)
Reduction in exercise
Parasite migration
Dental disease
What is the most common colic type in donkeys and waht is the survival rate?
LI Impactions (50%)
50% survival rate
What is the aim of treatment in large intestinal impactions?
Aim is to (over) hydrate ingesta so that gut peristalsis can clear the impaction
When do the two most common types of ileal impaction occur?
Blocked with ingesta - usually due to hypertrophy of the wall at the ileocaecal junction secondary to tapeworm.
Blocked with Parascaris - Often within 24 hours of derworming too effectively when have a high worm burden.
When is sand impaction seen?
Grazing on sandy soil
Turnout in a sand paddock/arena
How would you diagnose a sand impaction?
History
Sedimentation test increases suspicion
Lateral abdominal radiograph
What should you feed to horses to treat and prevent sand impaction?
Psyllium
Which pathogen could be a cause of small colon impactions?
Salmonella
List four aspects of the diagnoses of gastric impactions
Difficult to pass the stomach tube
Spleen pushed caudally on rectal
Large stomach on ultrasound
Gastroscopy
What is choke predisposed by?
Eating very quickly and having dental abnormalities
List 5 severe/prolonged signs of choke
Dehydration
Electrolyte imbalances
Acid-base imbalances
Aspiration pneumonia
Oesophageal rupture
What is the aim of choke treatment?
To lavage the obstruction back out of the oesophagus
Describe how you would treat choke.
Pass a nasogastric tube
Gently up to the obstruction and then pull back a little
Pour 1 litre of water in, then tube down to the floow to empty back out
Water coming out will be food contaminated
Repeat
