SouthWest Equine Medical and Surgical Center Raising the Standard of Equine Veterinary Healthcare in Arizona

Featured Case of the Month - "Larry the Lipoma"
Signalment:
Larry is an 11 year old Arabian gelding

History:
Intermittent mild colicky episodes for three days in duration.

Physical Exam:
On presentation to Southwest Equine Medical and Surgical Center Larry was fairly bright and alert. Larry had decreased gut motility on auscultation. A rectal exam was performed and distended or enlarged small intestine was appreciated. This is an abnormal finding because small intestine is normally to far up for a veterinarian to palpate on a rectal exam. This would suggest that the small intestine is compromised and filled with gas for some reason and therefore displaced to an abnormal location.

Diagnoses:
An abdominal ultrasound was performed revealing that there was distended or enlarged small intestine with poor motility. The ultrasound was also used to locate pockets of fluid near the intestine and then collected to help determine the integrity of the bowel. This procedure is called an abdominocentesis and if there are changes in the intestine's integrity the surrounding fluid will reflect this. The fluid is then analyzed for its protein content, number of white blood cells present and appearance to help determine the severity of bowel compromise. Larry had a very blood tinged abdominal fluid with a slightly elevated protein indicating intestinal compromise.
Larry was then allowed to rest in a stall while being closely monitored. He repeatedly became uncomfortable despite administration of pain medication frequently. Therefore, due to his abnormal rectal exam, abdominocentesis and unresponsiveness the pain control it was decided to take him to surgery to determine the cause of his condition and attempt to fix it.

Surgical Findings:

During surgery two lipomas were discovered located next to tissue surrounding the small intestine.

What Is A Lipoma?

A lipoma is a benign tumor that is composed of fat. The fatty tumor itself is harmless unless it becomes too large or grows stalks that can extend around the bowel, strangulating it. Luckily for Larry this had not occurred yet. Lipomas have the potential to strangulate or cut off the blood supply to the bowel. If this occurs the intestine could die and surgical resection of the dead bowel is the only treatment option for the horse to survive.
This tumor tends to be associated with older horses and can have a sudden onset of signs or can cause a slower progressive colic like Larry experienced.

Recovery:
Larry recovered well and was monitored closely for any complications that can arise post operatively.