I am learning a lot working in ICU as well as assisting with appointments, emergencies, and surgeries. One surgery Dr. Devine did last week was an enucleation on a paint horse. This horse, like many others with a large amount of white on its face, developed a squamous cell carcinoma on its upper eyelid. A previous resection and chemotherapy treatments was attempted without success. The only option left was to remove the whole eyeball so the tumor could be removed with good margins.
We had a Friesian come in Memorial Day weekend. This poor boy has had a long few weeks. He was imported from the Netherlands. After his quarantine in Los Angeles, he was shipped to Denver to be with his new owner. When he arrived in Colorado, he stepped off the trailer with nasal discharge and a fever. Shipping fever(pleuropneumonia) occurs during increased stress and decreased air quality inside a trailer. Unfortunately for this guy he also had a colon torsion that required surgery when he arrived at LEqMC. As if this poor guy hadn't been through enough, during his recovery he developed post-op ileus, a fever, and diarrhea. This required the doctors to pass a nasogastric tube and we got 14L of fluid off his stomach. We like to see net reflux under 2L so this is an extremely large amount of fluid! This guy was really good at hiding his pain, because he had minimal increases in his heart rate with that large amount of fluid in his stomach. He was started on a Lidocaine CRI which has been suggested to help sluggish small intestines in horses with post-op ileus. Food was eventually slowly introduced which he loved. I'm so happy to say he is doing extremely well now and will be going home this weekend to continue his recovery!
Dr. Duff and Dr. Murray performed acupuncture on him during his recovery for some sore muscles. He was not a fan of his muzzle preventing him from eating. He even chewed one apart during his stay! He is a hospital favorite and loves to snuggle with everyone and beg for treats :)
On Saturday we had 2 colics come in for treatment. One was admitted for IV fluids to treat an impaction and went home a few days later feeling great!
Unfortunately we could not control the pain in the other horse. This mare had a colic surgery for a strangulating lipoma a couple years ago. This time she had about 5 doses of sedation and analgesia without any relief. The owners elected human euthanasia and requested a necropsy. I assisted Dr. Duff with the necropsy. We found that she had a displaced colon that was about to be a torsion, multiple adhesions in her small intestines from her previous surgery, and a partial torsion of her ileum where in entered the cecum. Multiple sections of her intestinal mucosa was purple due to decreased blood flow. This was a great anatomy refresher! It's always great to apply things you learn in school. I appreciate the things I learned from this mare.
We had another baby come in for increased respirations. This little guy was a cute little Hanoverian. His vital signs, blood work and radiographs continually showed no abnormalities during his stay. Dr. Murray believes this foal had idiopathic tachypnea. This condition is believed to be related to a dysfunction of thermoregulation.
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| Last weekend I visited Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs to do some hiking. I am in love with the mountains :) |
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