Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Conservative treatment of oesophageal stricture in five foals.
- Journal:
- The Veterinary record
- Year:
- 1992
- Authors:
- Knottenbelt, D C et al.
- Affiliation:
- University of Liverpool · United Kingdom
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
In this study, five young foals, three of which were under four weeks old and two under six months, had a problem with their esophagus that caused blockages. One foal had a serious complication with pneumonia and was put to sleep without any treatment. Another foal was given a procedure to try to open the blockage while under anesthesia, but that didn't work. The four foals that survived were gradually fed firmer and coarser food, starting with just liquids, over three to four weeks. The researchers suggest that this method of treatment is best for early-stage blockages that don't affect the deeper layers of the esophagus.
Abstract
Three foals under four weeks old and two under six months old with a history of oesophageal obstruction, had oesophageal strictures of different characters in the rostral cervical oesophagus. One case, which was complicated by severe inhalation pneumonia, was euthanased without any treatment and in another initial treatment by bougienage under general anaesthesia was attempted without success. The four surviving cases were provided with progressively firmer and coarser food, starting with liquid only, over a period of three to four weeks. The treatment is recommended in the early stages of stricture maturation and for strictures which do not involve the deeper layers of the oesophageal wall.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1509659/