Gastroscopy & endoscopy
Equine gastric ulcers are widely discussed amongst the equine community and have gained more attention and understanding over recent years. Ulcers can have a significant negative effect on performance and wellbeing across all walks of life, from pleasure horses to sports horses and hunters.
If your horse is showing signs of under-performing, has had a change in behaviour, a dull coat, lack of appetite, resistance to leg pressure or sensitivity when girthing, they could be suffering from gastric ulcers.
Using gastroscopy to visualise the horse's stomach, we are able to see whether ulcers are present as well as categorise their type. Once diagnosed, we can offer the most appropriate treatment for your horse.
Gastroscopy is performed at our clinic where, under sedation, a long flexible video-endoscope is passed up the horse's nostril, down the oesophagus and into the stomach. When in the stomach there are two mucosal linings to be assessed for evidence of ulceration.
Squamous ulceration
This occurs in the white upper half of the stomach as a result of increased acid exposure. Symptoms owners often see include slowed eating, variable appetite, weight loss and poor performance. Known risk factors are daytime forage deprivation, high concentrate diets, prolonged exercise on an empty stomach and frequent transport.
Glandular ulceration
This occurs in the lower half of the stomach and is believed to reflect a reduced perfusion and blood flow to the tissue. Glandular disease is more common in sport and leisure horses. Unlike squamous ulcer disease, affected horses often look surprisingly well with no obvious weight loss. Common symptoms include behavioural changes, girthing pain and poor performance. The cause of this type of ulceration is unknown, and is the focus of current research.
Horses can have a combination of both ulcer types with differing severity, which is why visualising the type of ulcer is paramount for developing a specific targeted treatment regime. This ensures the highest chance of success in your treatment plan, as well as reducing the risk of recurrence.
Endoscopy is the process of passing a long, flexible video-endoscope into the nostril of the horse, to the back of the throat and down their windpipe.
Similar to gastroscopy, this is also performed at our clinic with the horse sedated. Endoscopy is useful in cases where we want to visualise the respiratory apparatus of the horse, for example where a horse is making a noise during exercise, is under-performing or has difficulty breathing.
We also frequently perform endoscopy to obtain fluid samples from the windpipe (tracheal wash) and the lungs (broncho-alveolar lavage) in order to investigate cases of coughing, nasal discharge, pneumonia and equine asthma. We do this by sending these fluid samples to a laboratory to be analysed for signs of inflammation or the presence of infectious bacteria.
