Serology for Brucella abortus in cart horses from an urban area in Brazil / Sorologia para Brucella abortus em cavalos de carroça de área urbana do Brasil

Avaliou-se a infecção por Brucella abortus em cavalos de carroça de Curitiba e São José dos Pinhais-PR. Um total de 123 amostras foi submetido ao teste do antígeno tamponado acidificado (ATA), soroaglutinação lenta em tubos (SAL) e prova do 2-mercaptoetanol (2-ME) para confirmação dos resultados. Oito (6,5%) equinos foram positivos para o ATA e um animal permaneceu positivo ao teste confirmatório. Existem evidências da presença de brucelose entre os cavalos de carroça.

Use of gastric balloon manometry for estimation of intra-abdominal pressure in horses.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Standing laparoscopic procedures, facilitated by abdominal insufflation with carbon dioxide, are being employed to an increasingly greater extent in horses. However, a sustained increase in abdominal pressure may be life-threatening. A practical method for intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) assessment is imperative. Although indirect methods for estimating IAP have been extensively studied in man, little work has been performed in veterinary medicine. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the utility of gastric manometry for purposes of evaluating IAP in horses. METHODS: Gastric pressure (P(ga) ) was estimated by balloon manometry in 8 healthy, mature horses, before and during a 30 min passive pneumoperitoneum induced by right paralumbar puncture. The balloon manometer was positioned within the gastric lumen and inflated using 2 separate volumes of air: 10 and 50 ml. P(ga) Gastric pressure was determined at baseline (0) and 5, 15 and 30 min after induction of passive pneumoperitoneum. Intra-abdominal pressure was measured directly by right paralumbar puncture using an 8 gauge needle at baseline and immediately following establishment of passive pneumoperitoneum. RESULTS: Baseline IAP values were negative and increased (P≤0.05) during development of passive pneumoperitoneum. However, recorded P(ga) measurements for both inflation volumes were positive before (baseline) and during the course of the passive pneumoperitoneum. Measured P(ga) values did not correlate with IAP at any time. CONCLUSIONS AND POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Our results suggest that the indirect method used in human patients for estimating IAP by P(ga) is not applicable for horses.

Effect of passive pneumoperitoneum on oesophageal pressure, cardiovascular parameters and blood gas analysis in horses.

REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Standing surgical procedures are being employed to an ever-greater extent in horses. Pneumoperitoneum during abdominal surgery might adversely affect the work of breathing. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether development of pneumoperitoneum during abdominal surgery adversely influences the work of breathing. METHODS: Eight healthy mature horses were equipped with carotid artery and thoracic vena cava catheters and an intraluminal manometry system. The following measurements were obtained before and at +5, +10, +15 and +30 min following establishment of pneumoperitoneum by paralumbar puncture using an 8 gauge needle: vital signs, oesophageal pressure, gastric pressure, arterial and central venous blood pressures, and arterial and mixed venous blood gas analyses. RESULTS: Significant changes in oesophageal pressure, central venous pressure and results of arterial and mixed venous blood gas analysis were not detected. Arterial diastolic and mean pressures and rectal temperature increased slightly (P ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Passive pneumoperitoneum did not adversely affect breathing mechanics or haemodynamic variables under experimental conditions. Changes in arterial pressure could have occurred as a response to the passive pneumoperitoneum or be related to handling stress. Subtle variations in rectal temperature were not clinically relevant and likely resulted from stress associated with restraint. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: It is unlikely that mature horses will develop signs of respiratory difficulty as a result of the development of passive pneumoperitoneum during standing laparoscopy.

Extracapsular cataract extraction in horses by nuclear fragmentation using adapted instruments / Facectomia extracapsular em eqüinos mediante núcleo fragmentação, com o emprego original de instrumentais adaptados

It was studied the nuclear fragmentation technique for lens extraction in six adult horses using adapted surgical instruments. Postoperative assessment revealed a reduction of intraocular pressure in all animals during the first postoperative days, as well as varying degrees of photophobia, blepharospasm, corneal edema, and iridocyclitis. Fibrin formation mainly located in the axial portion of the pupilla was noted in most cases, affecting or impairing vision.

Estudou-se a técnica de núcleo-fragmentação para a extração da lente em seis eqüinos adultos, utilizando-se instrumentais cirúrgicos adaptados. Nas avaliações pós-operatórias, verificou-se diminuição da pressão intra-ocular, em todos os animais, nos primeiros dias de pós-operatório e, ainda, fotofobia, blefarospasmo, edema de córnea e iridociclites, em graus diversos. Observou-se produção de fibrina que, na maioria dos casos, localizava-se na porção axial da pupila, dificultando ou impedindo a visão.