Serial postoperative peritoneal fluid analyses in horses with naturally-occurring strangulating and non-strangulating gastrointestinal lesions.

OBJECTIVE

To describe characteristics of postoperative peritoneal fluid following exploratory laparotomy for naturally-occurring gastrointestinal lesions in horses.

STUDY

DESIGN

Prospective, observational cohort study.

ANIMALS: A total of 26 client-owned horses that underwent exploratory laparotomy for naturally-occurring gastrointestinal lesions.

METHODS

Abdominocentesis was performed pre- or intraoperatively, and at three time points postoperatively (24, 72, and 168 h). Peritoneal lactate, total protein (TP), total nucleated cell count (TNCC), cytology, and systemic lactate were performed at each time point, if possible. To account for repeated measures, a linear mixed model analysis was performed for each dependent variable listed above.

RESULTS

Horses were divided into groups based on the gastrointestinal lesion diagnosed at surgery (14 strangulating and 12 non-strangulating). Peritoneal lactate (p < .001) and TP (p = .02) were significantly higher preoperatively in horses with strangulating compared to non-strangulating lesions, with no significant differences between lesion groups for any postoperative measurement. Peritoneal lactate and TP concentrations remained above normal for the entire postoperative study period in both groups. Systemic lactate returned to normal concentrations by 24 h postoperatively with both groups being significantly lower than preoperative concentrations (p = .02). Peritoneal TNCC concentrations increased in strangulating (p = .001) and non-strangulating (p < .001) horses at 24 h postoperatively compared to preoperatively.

CONCLUSION

Regardless of lesion, peritoneal fluid lactate and TP remained above normal at 1 week following exploratory laparotomy for naturally-occurring gastrointestinal lesions in horses.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE: Current reference values for preoperative fluid sample analyses should not be used in the postoperative period.