ABSTRACT
Based on studies of horses presented to university referral centers for evaluation of abdominal pain, approximately 4% of these horses had diseases that primarily affected the cecum.1 In another study of horses undergoing exploratory celiotomy for gastrointestinal disease, approximately 4% of the conditions had primary involvement of the cecum.2 However, results of the former study indicate that the survival rate for horses presented with pain owing to diseases of the cecum is less than 50%. Thus, although diseases of the cecum that result in abdominal pain are encountered less commonly than diseases affecting some other portions of the horse’s gastrointestinal tract, diseases of the cecum should be regarded as being important by equine practitioners. The most common diseases of the cecum encountered in clinical practice are cecal tympany, cecal impaction and cecocecal/cecocolic intussusception. The purpose of this chapter is to review the important clinical aspects regarding these and other diseases that affect the cecum, their identification, methods of treatment, and prognosis for survival. Specific attention will be given to complications associated with diseases affecting the cecum.
