Search Results

Abstract

Objective—To assess signalment, history, results of clinical and laboratory testing, and outcome for beef cattle with a left displaced abomasum (LDA), right displaced abomasum (RDA), or abomasal volvulus (AV).

Design—Retrospective study.

Animals—19 beef cattle with an AV, LDA, or RDA.

Procedure—Signalment; history; results of physical examination, diagnostic testing, and surgical exploration; and condition of the animal at discharge were obtained from medical records.

Results—Fourteen cattle had an AV, 4 had an RDA, and 1 had an LDA. Duration of clinical signs ranged from 1 to 21 days. Eighteen cattle had an AV or RDA; 7 were Brahmans, 12 were males, and median age was 10 months. Abdominal distention was observed in 11 cattle, heart rate of ≥ 100 beats/minute was detected in 14, and the abomasum was palpable per rectum in all cattle in which per rectal examination was performed. Leukocytosis, neutrophilia, hyperglycemia, azotemia, hypochloremia, and hypokalemia were common laboratory findings. At surgery, 3 cattle with an AV or RDA had a ruptured abomasum. Of the remaining 15 cattle, 12 survived.

Conclusions—Clinical course in beef cattle with an AV or RDA was more protracted than that typically associated with these conditions in dairy cattle, but survival rate in beef cattle that did not have rupture of the abomasum was sim ilar to that of dairy cattle.

Clinical Relevance—Abomasal displacement should be considered for beef cattle with abdominal distention. Prognostic indicators recommended for use in dairy cattle may not be useful for beef cattle. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2000;216:730–733)

Abstract

Objective—To evaluate the effect of erythromycin on motility of the ileum, cecum, and pelvic flexure of horses during the postoperative and post-recovery periods.

Animals—8 healthy adult horses.

Procedure—Horses were anesthetized and bipolar electrodes were implanted in smooth muscle of the ileum, cecum, and pelvic flexure. Approximately 4, 16, and 24 hours (postoperative recording sessions) and at least 8 days (post-recovery recording session) after surgery, myoelectric activity was recorded before and after administration of erythromycin (0.5 mg/kg).

Results—Following erythromycin administration, myoelectric activity was increased in the ileum during all postoperative recording sessions but not during the post-recovery recording session. Myoelectric activity was increased in the cecum following erythromycin administration only during the post-recovery recording session. Myoelectric activity was increased in the pelvic flexure following erythromycin administration during all recording sessions. During several recording sessions, there were short periods during which myoelectric activity was significantly decreased following erythromycin administration.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggest that erythromycin has an effect on myoelectric activity of the ileum, cecum, and pelvic flexure in horses; however, prokinetic effects of erythromycin administered during the postoperative period were not always the same as effects obtained when the drug was administered after horses had recovered from the effects of surgical implantation of recording devices. Therefore, caution must be exercised when extrapolating results of prokinetic studies in healthy animals to animals with abnormal gastrointestinal tract motility. (Am J Vet Res 2000;61:420–424)

Abstract

Objective—To evaluate effects of IV administration of penicillin G potassium (KPEN) or potassium chloride (KCl) on defecation and myoelectric activity of the cecum and pelvic flexure of horses.

Animals—5 healthy horses.

Procedure—Horses with 12 bipolar electrodes on the cecum and pelvic flexure received KPEN or KCl solution by IV bolus 4 hours apart. Each horse received the following: 2 × 10⁷ U of KPEN (high-dose KPEN) followed by 34 mEq of KCl (high-dose KCl), 1 × 10⁷ U of KPEN (low-dose KPEN) followed by 17 mEq of KCl (low-dose KCl), high-dose KCl followed by high-dose KPEN, and low-dose KCl followed by low-dose KPEN. Number of defecations and myoelectric activity were recorded for 60 minutes. The first three 5-minute segments and first four 15-minute segments of myoelectric activity were analyzed.

Results—Number of defecations during the first 15- minute segment was greater after high-dose KPEN treatment than after high-dose or low-dose KCl treatment. Compared with reference indexes, myoelectric activity was greater in the pelvic flexure for the first 5- minute segment after high-dose KCl treatment, in the cecum and pelvic flexure for the first 5-minute segment and in the pelvic flexure for the first 15-minute segment after low-dose KPEN treatment, and in the pelvic flexure for the first and second 5-minute segments and the first three 15-minute segments after high-dose KPEN treatment.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—IV administration of KPEN stimulates defecation and myoelectric activity of the cecum and pelvic flexure in horses. Effects of KPEN may be beneficial during episodes of ileus. (Am J Vet Res 2003;64:1360–1363)

Abstract

Objective—To determine results of ultrasound-guided cystocentesis and percutaneous infusion of Walpole's solution for treatment of male goats with urolithiasis.

Design—Retrospective case series.

Animals—25 male goats with urolithiasis treated with Walpole's solution.

Procedures—Information obtained from the medical records included signalment, degree of urethral obstruction (partial vs complete), pertinent examination findings, concurrent illnesses, diet, other treatments administered, duration of hospitalization, whether the obstruction resolved, and outcome (ie, discharged vs euthanized).

Results—14 (58%) animals had complete urethral obstruction, and 10 (42%) had partial obstruction (degree of urethral patency was not recorded in 1 animal). Walpole's solution was infused once in 18 (72%) animals, twice in 6 (24%) animals, and 3 times in 1 (4%) animal. The amount of Walpole's solution required to achieve the target urine pH of 4 to 5 ranged from 50 to 250 mL. In 20 (80%) goats, the urethral obstruction resolved, and the goat was discharged. The remaining 5 (20%) goats were euthanized because of unresolved urethral obstruction. Six of the 20 (30%) goats that were discharged were reexamined because of recurrence of urethral obstruction.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggested that ultrasound-guided cystocentesis in combination with percutaneous infusion of Walpole's solution may be a useful treatment in male goats with obstructive urolithiasis.

Abstract

Objective—To determine risk factors associated with development of postoperative ileus in horses undergoing surgery for colic.

Design—Case-control study

Animals—69 horses that developed ileus after surgery for colic and 307 horses that did not develop postoperative ileus.

Procedure—Signalment, history, clinicopathologic data, treatment, lesions, and outcome were obtained from medical records.

Results—Variables associated with increased risk of postoperative ileus included age > 10 years, Arabian breed, PCV ≥ 45%, high serum concentrations of protein and albumin, anesthesia > 2.5 hours' duration, surgery > 2 hours' duration, resection and anastomosis, and lesions in the small intestine. Enterotomy reduced the risk of postoperative ileus. After multivariate logistic regression, the final model included the variables Arabian breed, PCV ≥ 45%, lesion type, duration of surgery (> 2 hours vs ≤ 2 hours), and pelvic flexure enterotomy.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Results suggest that by evaluating certain factors, horses at increased risk of postoperative ileus may be recognized before the condition develops. Preventative treatment and early intervention may be instituted in these horses. Shortening surgery time and performing an enterotomy may decrease the probability of horses developing postoperative ileus. (J Am Vet Med Assoc 2001;219:72–78)

Abstract

Objective—To examine the effect of various clinical tracks within the veterinary medical clinical curriculum at Texas A&M University on clinical diagnostic proficiency as determined by pre- and post-training assessment. We expected that the clinical track chosen by the student would impact their measured outcome with bias toward higher scores in their chosen field.

Design—Prospective cohort study.

Study Population—32 students from the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University.

Procedures—By use of standardized, written case scenarios, clinical reasoning was assessed twice: once prior to the clinical (fourth) year of the curriculum and again at completion of the clinical year. Students demonstrated their abilities to collect and organize appropriate clinical data (history, physical examination, and laboratory findings), determine clinical diagnoses, and formulate and implement acceptable treatment modalities. Data from clinical assessments were compared for a given cohort and correlated with other measures (eg, grades, standardized test scores, and species-specific curricular track).

Results—Differences were detected in clinical diagnostic proficiency among students in different clinical tracks and for different species groups in the case scenarios. Tracking by species group in the clinical veterinary curriculum appeared to affect development of clinical reasoning and resulted in differential proficiency among cases for differing species groups.

Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Differences in clinical experiences between small animal tracks and all other track opportunities (large animal, mixed animal, and alternative) influenced the development of clinical proficiency in fourth-year veterinary students during their clinical training period.