Epiploic Foramen??

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Dappledpony

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Hi, this is my first post here and I wish it were in nicer circumstances. I lost my beloved 5 year old Fell gelding the other day.

He went out for short, gentle hack and was perky and well. I put him in stable and he unusually lay down. Then got up and down few times. He appeared initially to have mild colic (first time having it and confirmed by vet who came out within 90 mins of first symptoms. She did rectal and gave anti spasmodic and painkillers).

I monitored him all night, he was ok until dawn then began to get up and down again. Vet came straight out and did same as above. This time his heart rate up and rectal detected swellings.

He was referred to hospital and got there by mid morning. An ultra sound showed distended small intestine and he was tubed, a whole bucket of fluid came out, vet said the most it should be is a litre. His bloods came back as full of toxins,

I opted for them to get him on operating table to see what going on, being prepared to face £10k bill, thousands above my insurance if repairs needed.

Sadly it transpired his small intestine had pushed through gap called the foramen, it would have meant half his small intestine being removed and rejoined. Given his 25% chance of making it through op, very high toxin levels and his life changing drastically (long stretch of box rest, pain, isolated from his herd mates and restricted diet) I made the hardest decision of my life to pts.

Torturing myself that I did something wrong in his care, but vet hospital said he was just unlucky and luck of draw if intestine goes into this gap that all equines have. It's called epiploic foramen colic.

Anyone else been through this?
 
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I just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear what you have been through and for the loss of your young horse.
I think it is natural to re- run events in your mind to see if anything could have changed things when you have been through something like this.
Your Fell had all the Vet attention you could ask for. I think you absolutely made the right decision. It is just so hard. Big hugs x
 
melbiswas said:
I just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear what you have been through and for the loss of your young horse.
I think it is natural to re- run events in your mind to see if anything could have changed things when you have been through something like this.
Your Fell had all the Vet attention you could ask for. I think you absolutely made the right decision. It is just so hard. Big hugs x
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Thank you, I'm devastated as had him from a foal and he was my dream pony. I'm kicking myself as, for a Fell, he was never a good doer. I had to feed him conditioning cubes and stable him in winter to keep his weight on. He should have lived on fresh air. I thought at time it's because he's growing. I'm thinking now that he probably had long term digestive system issue and I should have got a vet to check him a few years ago.
 
So sorry to read this OP. Dreadful to have to put down a young horse and even worse when you have had him from a foal. I am so sorry. It does not sound as though there was anything in the world you could have done to prevent it and you obviously made the right decision for him. So very sorry. x x
 
Oh sweetie. So very sorry to read of your loss.

Don't beat yourself up. Lots of horses that should be fat on thin air aren't. We can't investigate and mitigate every single potential, we just do what we can.
 
So sorry to hear this. I lost a horse suddenly recently & know how all those "what ifs" run through your head. It really does sound like just horrible bad luck & you really mustn't beat yourself up about it.
 
I'm so sorry, OP. I doubt this was an existing issue, if all horses have it. Just sounds terribly unlucky. Would the vet go over your what ifs to help put your mind at rest?
 
Janah said:
So, so sorry for your loss.
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Me too. xx

Is it a result of the colic or was it the cause of the pain/colic, like a hernia? I haven't heard of it before so sorry for the question.

It doesn't sound like there was anything you did wrong or more that you could have done. x
 
amandap said:
Me too. xx

Is it a result of the colic or was it the cause of the pain/colic, like a hernia? I haven't heard of it before so sorry for the question.

It doesn't sound like there was anything you did wrong or more that you could have done. x
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It's an internal hernia, the small intestine enters the gap then more and more gets sucked in, cutting off blood supply to intestines. The colic pain was as a result of it. Oakham told me all horses have this design fault and it's unlucky if your horse's intestine enters it.
 
So sorry to hear this, what a horrible thing to happen.

OP I honestly don't think there is anything you could have done differently or that you would have known about this. This kind of colic is very unfortunate and I don't think you can foresee occuring. Sadly its just one of those things.
 
Dappledpony said:
It's an internal hernia, the small intestine enters the gap then more and more gets sucked in, cutting off blood supply to intestines. The colic pain was as a result of it. Oakham told me all horses have this design fault and it's unlucky if your horse's intestine enters it.
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Thanks.
 
So sorry to hear this, it sounds like it was just one of those terrible things that sometimes sadly happens. For what its worth, I would have made the same decision as you. I hope with time you are able to feel a little easier about it. Thanks for posting, sad though it is its always good to learn about new things and I hadnt heard of this before.
 
Very sorry to hear of your loss. Some years ago I lost my home bred three year old to this. He survived the colic operation and had about six feet of 'dead' intestine removed. Unfortunately so many toxins had been released into his system that we went into toxic shock and was euthanised on veterinary advice.
 
I lost a horse with this last year, he was a home bred 7/8ths TB that I had foaled 18 years ago. It was the worst colic I have seen in terms of pain, the painkillers adminstered by my vet were only effective for an hour or so. At one point he was lying on his back with his hooves over his head in agony, then he'd start blindly throwing himself round the stable. We were referred to Glasgow vet school and once there it was decided the only option was surgery. I made the heartbreaking decision to let him go at that point, he had been through far too much pain already and being a highly strung, nervous type the aftercare with him would have been difficult and the vet said there was a good chance of further colic during his recovery. The subsequent post motem revealed it was Epiploic Foramen Entrapment so his prognosis would have been poor.

OP, like you, we were told it was bad luck, nothing we did could have prevented it although subsequent reading on it said there was a prevalence in older TB's and crib bitters which my boy was. I sincerely hope this is the last time I have to deal anything like this but I suppose it's the downside of horses and just have to accept it. I'm sorry for your loss too OP.
 
I am so sorry to read of your tragic news OP. It is heartbreaking and I hope you allow yourself some time to heal and come to terms with the fact that we can only do so much.
I lost my mare to colic two years ago. She was 18 and I had owned her from a 2 yo. It was very acute, the vet gave her morphine and other drugs that had no affect at all. Sadly there was no chance of trying to transport her anywhere and I had to make the decision quickly to pts. It took quite a while to get over but I had to make the decision to pts purely because I loved her so much and it was the kindest thing I could do for her.
I haven't heard of Epiploic Foramen, it sounds terrible.
RIP Beautiful boy xxx
 
eggs said:
Very sorry to hear of your loss. Some years ago I lost my home bred three year old to this. He survived the colic operation and had about six feet of 'dead' intestine removed. Unfortunately so many toxins had been released into his system that we went into toxic shock and was euthanised on veterinary advice.
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This was the likely out come of mine. His toxin levels were very high. Vet said just by that he had uphill struggle..never mind recovery from major op. So sorry to everyone that has lost their horse to this.
 
I have also since read that 67% of sufferers either crib bite or windsuck. Mine did neither. I'm glad his pain was pretty much managed. Once he had fluid drawn off and painkillers at hospital he became alert again and waa trying to pull over his drip stand!

I got a precious 15 mins of him being alert and cuddling me while surgeon on way..where I told him he was amazing and I loved him desperately. I managed to stay composed and he toddled off to the operating theatre relaxed and calm. It's honestly the most awful day of my life.
 
I am so sorry for your loss. What a horrible shock it must have been.

It is human nature to re-run things over and to blame yourself. We lost home bred foal last year which was awful. There's nothing to prepare you for a sudden loss.

Please don't try and think it was your fault. He sounded a very loved and cared for pony. RIP.
 
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