Intestinal infarction associated with mesenteric vascular thrombotic disease in the horse

Intestinal infarction associated with cranial mesenteric artery thrombosis, without strangulation obstruction of the intestine, was studied in 18 horses. Findings normally of value in evaluating horses with acute abdominal pain (heart rate, rectal palpation findings, gastric reflux) or classification of the degree of pain were not helpful in diagnosing the problem. Similarly, packed cell volume, plasma total protein, circulating white blood cell count, peritoneal white blood cell count, and peritoneal fluid total protein were not of value in predicting severity of the intestinal damage, location of infarction, or patient survival. In one half of the cases, peritoneal fluid color was of aid in distinguishing intestinal infarction from strangulation. Findings on gross dissection and limited histologic examination did not support the premise that thromboembolism was the major mechanism for production of infarction. In most of the horses, a thrombus or embolus was not found in the peripheral mesenteric vessels.