The Facts on Enteroliths
By Christine Barakat
One out of every four colic surgeries performed at the University of California-Davis is done to remove an enterolith. This intriguing statistic recently prompted university researchers to review more than two decades’ worth of enterolith cases to learn more about these large, stonelike deposits that sometimes form in equine intestines.
Enteroliths are usually composed of multiple layers of magnesium salts and other mineral salts built up around a foreign object, such as an ingested piece of metal, wood or plastic. A single large stone can block the intestine and lead to colic, and, in some cases, fatal intestinal rupture can occur even before the horse shows any signs of distress.
"Enteroliths are a huge concern for horse owners and veterinarians in California," says Diana Hassel, DVM, who headed the study. "We wanted to collect as much information as we could about the problem." A review of the records of 5,977 horses referred to the clinic for colic over a 23-year period revealed 900 confirmed enterolith cases. The youngest of these horses was one year old, and the oldest was 33. In studying the records of the affected horses, the researchers discovered the following:
- Between 1973 and 1986, the number of horses with enteroliths represented only 6.6 percent of the horses referred to the clinic for colic. Between 1987 and 1996, however, enterolith cases made up 21.6 percent of colic referrals. "We can't say definitively what caused this jump,"says Hassel. "It could be due in part to increased referrals or diagnosis, but I suspect that there has truly been an increase in the number of horses developing enteroliths."
- In more than 99 percent of the identified horses, alfalfa feeds comprised at least 50 percent of the diet. “Alfalfa, particularly alfalfa from California, is very high in magnesium. There is obviously something to be looked into there,"says Hassel.
- Slightly more than 9 percent of affected horses had siblings who also had enteroliths at one time.
- Some breeds seem to be more prone to enteroliths than others. "Arabians and Morgans were overrepresented in relation to the equine population seen at the clinic," says Hassel, while Thoroughbreds, Standardbreds and warmbloods were underrepresented.
- Fifteen percent of the affected horses had ruptured intestines and died before surgery was begun, or were euthanatized before or during surgery when a rupture was discovered.
- Of the horses who underwent surgery for enteroliths, 96 percent were discharged from the hospital, and 92 percent were alive one year later.
Hassel says these findings provide the groundwork for future studies on the prevention of this common colic problem. "We can't say from this data exactly what factors influence the formation of enteroliths," she says, "but it has certainly given us a good idea where to look for the answers."
This article is from EQUUS Magazine, Issue 247 (May 1998), copyright PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Publications, Inc. All rights reserved.
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