Acute phase response to surgery of varying intensity in horses: a preliminary study.

Objective: To evaluate the postoperative inflammatory response of horses to elective surgery of varying intensity.

Study Design: Prospective longitudinal study.

Animals: Horses referred to 2 hospitals for either arthroscopic removal of a unilateral osteochondritic lesion in the tibiotarsal joint (minimal surgical trauma, n=11), correction of recurrent laryngeal neuropathy by laryngoplasty and ventriculectomy (intermediate surgical trauma, n=10) or removal of an ovarian tumor by laparotomy (major surgical trauma, n=5).

Diagnostic decision rule for support in clinical assessment of the need for surgical intervention in horses with acute abdominal pain.

A prospective survey of horses with colic referred to a university hospital was undertaken to elaborate on a simple clinical decision support system capable of predicting whether or not horses require surgical intervention. Cases were classified as requiring surgical intervention or not on the basis of intraoperative findings or necropsy reports. Logistic regression analysis was applied to identify predictors with the strongest association with treatment needed.