Hi all, my horse who I have posted about a couple of times on here before, has continued to have colic issues and had 85% of his large colon removed in surgery last week. The surgery was not elective as he colicked and blew through 5 rounds of sedation and was still trying to throw himself on the ground, but the resection was. Meaning, his colon was healthy (no dead tissue or compromised blood supply) but because this was his second surgery and third time being hospitalized for issues with his colon with 9 other additional colic episodes in the last 8 months that no one has been able to figure out a cause for, we elected to remove most of it so it cannot continue to displace or twist. I’m just wondering if anyone has any experience with this procedure— seems it is not very common. The surgeon is very hopeful it will prevent future episodes and shouldn’t limit his performance career. I’m gutted, emotionally exhausted, and praying that she is correct in that hope.
I’ve known two with a similar surgery that resumed showing at their former level successfully. I hope your horse has a smooth recovery.
Mine had a major resection because of a strangulating lipoma. He is doing very, very well today. He has a thread. I’ve no clue how to link it for you. It is exhausting but very worth it. 
I don’t have a tony of info, but my neighbor’s mare had three colic surgeries. The last one, they removed her colon. She never colicked again.
Are you sure it was removed? In most cases with recurrent colon torsion, they do a colopexy, where the essentially tack it to the top of the abdominal wall. I have not heard of removing large sections of it just because, but I am also not a vet 
My friend’s horse had it removed.
Yes, resection is generally favored over colopexy for performance horses because there has not been any research or studies done on ‘pexied horses returning to athletic careers, the concern being rupturing.
Does having the colon removed affect how/what you feed?
That is really great to hear. Thank you. My biggest fear is it not working and then having put him through a second surgery for nothing.
Surprisingly not really, according the surgeon. The hope is that his diet will actually be simpler going forward because we don’t have to worry about his colon displacing. He still has his cecum, which is responsible for water absorption, that can be a concern.
Thanks for the response as it is very interesting that there is minimal impact.
My mare had the same. She recovered beautifully and never had any other GI issues.
