Colic surgery for old horse?

[sascha]

@Bending_Line

Also, at that time, visitors were allowed at the vet hospital, and while she was there, I got to visit her every day, groom her, etc., which made it better for me (and hopefully her).

In answer to the part I bolded:

You bet! Quite a few years ago I remember my small animal vet telling me there was new research to back up her “git yer ass in here and visit your pet after surgery” policy. She had observed over the years that animals interacting with their owners after surgery made better recoveries and coped better with confinement.

@horsephotolady I’m sorry you’re going through this and I hope the horsepital stay/fluids do the trick. Add me to the list of nays in regards to surgery on an older horse, let alone one with health issues.

[BWP]

I hope she continues to do well! At the opposite end of the age scale my yearling was hospitalised yesterday with colic and I had to have discussions re: surgery.

I lost my old lad a couple of years ago to colic, I was clear that referral and surgery were not options I would consider. The vet agreed and thanked me for making that decision.

[Texarkana]

@horsephotolady

Thank you everyone, for your thoughts. My girl is still hospitalized, but appears more comfortable. Looks like things are trending in a better direction, so hopefully this is something that is improving with medical management. I have pretty much decided that surgery is not an option. Hoping she will continue to improve and be able to come home soon!

Many jingles for her! I hope she continues trending in the right direction!

[RedHorses]

I have a very sensible, 25 year old gelding with PSSM, mild heaves, and I would hard “No” on colic surgery. He colicked before Christmas last year and I told the vets up front that he was not going for surgery.

Aside from the question of how heaves affects the risk of full sedation, both PSSM and heaves complicate stall rest, and while everything is managed well at the moment, I’m not kidding myself that one more major thing isn’t likely to collapse this house of cards. I can’t put my horse through that.

I hope your mare passes her impaction.

[4horses]

How’s your mare doing? Hoping for a positive update!

[OverandOnward]

Not to be too much of a downer … we don’t know the in-depth condition of the mare before the colic …

Sometimes if a horse is on a downward decline to end of life, colic is part of the process of the final decline. A natural death can be slow, painful and difficult. Rarely does the light just switch off without any other changes. The usual is that the system shuts down slowly and unevenly. One or a few parts at a time.

However I would hope that this would be clear to a vet, based on bloodwork, along with general observation. And the vet would provide that context to the owner. However not all vets (or human doctors) have a good understanding of the death process.

[bingbingbing]

Update??? How is she doing???

[horsephotolady]

Sorry I didn’t get back sooner…have been completely focused on her care. She came home Thursday and is doing better, though her appetite is not completely back. She was scoped at the clinic and they did find ulcers, so she is now on ulcer meds. But her attitude is good and she is calm and relaxed now, which she was not at the clinic. So, I’ve been doing lots of hand walking and trying to find grass for her to graze because she doesn’t want hay. Crossing fingers that the meds start doing their job soon! Thanks for all your input!

[JBCool]

If they sent her home, that is a great sign! So glad she didn’t need surgery. BTDT. Continuing jingles and prayers she feels like her younger self soon!

[olim2005]

This has crossed my mind since I have a 21 and 26y old. I probably would not. I am sorry you are going through this.

[SusanO]

My two older guys ( 23 and 20?ish pony) are not surgical candidates because they have other issues even though they might survive stall rest. However, when I boarded, a fellow boarder sent their 25 year old pony off to Auburn for surgery for a strangulating lipoma. He was a pony which is usually longer living than a horse and was in excellent health before the colic. And the owners did not have any financial problems with the cost either. As far as I know, the pony had an uneventful recovery and lived several more years with no problems.

[quietann]

I’m glad to hear your mare has come home. I hope she recovers well.

Anyone who has been around these forums for a while knows how devoted I am to Feronia, my almost 26 year old retired mare. It’s perhaps because of that devotion that when I moved her in 2022, I told her she’d never have to put a hoof on a trailer again. She had become very upset by trailering, even with tranq on board. BO is well aware of this, and any health issues that can’t be managed in the barn will mean putting her down.

[SuzieQNutter]

Ask for statistics for horses having surgery.

Without the age factor it is something like half survive for 6 months, less for 12 months.

It may have changed so find out for yourself.

[OverandOnward]

Good point.

2023 stats below. This study was done in Italy and published on the website of the U.S. National Institute of Health.

Studies of predictive prognosis indices, incidence of postoperative complications, and survival rates in different geographical areas may not be comparable.

Primary prediction criteria for survival:

… age, body condition score (BCS), packed cell volume (PCV) and total plasma protein (TPP) before and after surgery, amount of reflux, type of disease, type of lesion, duration of surgery and surgeon’s experience, and amount of intra- and postoperative fluids administered affected the outcome.

The multivariate analysis revealed that PCV at arrival, TPP after surgery, and BCS had the highest predictive power.

Colic surgery, despite the improvements in recent years, is not without risks and still has a high risk of death compared with other procedures. Although about 90% of cases of colic in horses resolve spontaneously or with medical treatment, the remaining 10% can be fatal if not treated surgically. [Italian study.]

Furthermore, postoperative complications can have important welfare and economic consequences.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10044551/#:~:text=The%20survival%20rate%20was%2068.5,of%20the%20horses%20surviving%20anaesthesia.

I’m noting that they say ‘survival’, so I’m assuming that means being alive after the operation for some period of time. Days? Weeks?

It does not say ‘recovery’. Or what degree of recovery. Or what life was like for the horse, post-surgery, post-recovery. As is proper for definitive research, the study was focused narrowly around a small criteria.

So … what does this study tell us? Someone with more background in medical studies and in vet medicine generally could say better than me.

[BayMoose]

It’s largely regionally specific, and that’s based nearly entierly on proximity to referal hospitals and how fast you can get them to surgery. If they survive to discharge, longterm survival (over 1 year) is often over 80%.

Long-term outcome after colic surgery: retrospective study of 106 horses in...

[BayMoose]

@OverandOnward

I’m noting that they say ‘survival’, so I’m assuming that means being alive after the operation for some period of time. Days? Weeks?

Survival in the linked study was survival to discharge. I mean, they could have died the day after, but not usually. To me, survival to discharge is not that impactful of a measure because what most owners are interested in is long term survival. That study was also a records review from Italy - I have no idea what vet care is like in Italy or how that compares. That study also found though that ~14% of horses died during surgery. The majority of those were intraoperative euthanasia i.e. we open it up and there are 20 feet of dead intestine. But that number also says nothing about successful recovery because they were too far gone to begin with and also didn’t go through recovery and therefore doesn’t give a meaningful metric about long term surgical success (I mean you could argue the definition of success but…).

[2tempe]

My mare had 2 colic surgeries w/in a year. Displacement of large colon to the right; then later to the left. (the gas build up was frightening, she looked like the Hindenburg…) She was in early teens, recovered both time with little trouble. BUT she was never really quite the same. The mare had some talent but not a lot of work ethic even before the surgeries. Never got back to her almost PSG capabilities - maybe adhesions added to a bit of laziness, who knows. That said, she is now 22, cushings, suspensory branch issues resulting in dropped hind fetlocks, retired at 18. She thinks retirement is the greatest thing ever. I have told my vet and the farm owner: if you cant fix it at home, she’s done. I do believe she heard this, and will live to be 100, lol.