Recurrent colics in a 9-year-old Arabian stallion due to several congenital anomalies

International audienceA 9-year-old Arabian stallion was presented for evaluation of recurrent colic problems of 2 years' duration. These colic episodes were associated with a right sided abdominal distension. An exploratory laparotomy revealed a colonic diverticulum that was resected en bloc. Two days later, following signs of acute colic, a second laparotomy showed incarceration of the distal jejunum into a mesodiverticular band combined with haemorrhage of a mesenteric arterial branch. in addition, an abnormally short jejunum (10 m) was also observed. An end-to-end jejunojejunostomy was performed. Following surgery the horse developed septic peritonitis, ptyalism and became dysphagic. Ten days after the second surgery, an infected oesophageal diverticulum causing regional inflammation was diagnosed endoscopically and euthanasia was performed. Postmortem examination showed a 40 cm long diverticulum lateral to the oesophagus. Histology suggested a congenital nature of the colonic and oesophageal diverticuli