Equine colic: clinical epidemiology and associated risk factors in and around Debre Zeit.

A prospective study was conducted to describe clinical epidemiology of equine colic in the Society for Protection of Animal Abroad and Donkey Sanctuary Project Clinic, at Debre Zeit, Ethiopia, from November 2014 to April 2015. The objectives were to describe clinical epidemiology of equine colic, to characterize the main types of equine colic, and to determine the major risk factors associated with equine colic. The method which was used in the study was attending clinical case of equine and assessing physiological parameters, fecal egg count, abdominal sounds, and rectal examination as well as questioner interviewing of the owners. The data were collected and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science. The incidence of colic was 10.3% in the study period. Colicky were typed as unknown, flatulent, impaction, spasmodic, and enterolithiasis. The proportion of case incidence were 63.1 (41/65), 33.8 (22/65), and 3.1% (2/65), in donkey, horse, and mule, respectively. The total mean (±SD) of temperature 37.80 ± 1.003, heart rate 57.54 ± 10.098, fecal egg count 236.922 ± 67.990, respiratory rate 30.92 ± 7.315, and packed cell volume 41.40 ± 10.221 were recorded. The case fatality rate of equine colic was 15.38% (10/65). There were statistically highly significant (p < 0.01) differences in impaction colic in relation to species. Interview with 183 equine owners revealed incidence of equine colic as the sixth major disease condition affecting equine. A long-term epidemiological study of the true representative population should be carried out to determine the incidence rate and associated risk factors of equine colic in the study area.

Word search performance for diagnoses of equine surgical colics in free-text electronic patient records.

The objectives of the current project were to: (1) identify limitations of search sensitivity and positive predictive value (PPV) for free-text surgical diagnoses included in electronic patient records maintained at the University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital (VMTH), (2) develop procedural or programmable recommendations for removing these limitations, and (3) provide guidelines for effective search strategies for users performing aggregate searches using the VMTH clinical information system. Search sensitivity corresponds to detection sensitivity (the capacity of a search term to 'identify' a relevant document) and search PPV indicates the proportion of retrieved documents that are relevant. All horses submitted to the VMTH for a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder requiring surgical intervention in 1995 were identified using procedure codes for billing purposes and stored in the electronic patient record. Patient records and surgical reports were reviewed for causes of GI disorders, and variation in naming of these disorders. Key word searches were performed for four GI disorders, and search performance was evaluated by estimating search sensitivity and PPV. Search sensitivity ranged from 33% to 98%, and PPV ranged from 2% to 74%. The procedural recommendation that would likely have the greatest influence on minimizing these search limitations would be more uniform naming of GI disorders. This would free searchers from having to anticipate all of the exact word combinations that could be used in the relevant documents, and also minimize retrieval of irrelevant documents.

Infantile colic--less common than previously estimated?

A two-part population-based study investigating the occurrence of infantile colic was undertaken, in which 92% of mothers with newborn healthy infants were reached. In the prospective part 152 mothers ("diary group") registered crying and fussing in their infants during 12 weeks. In the retrospective part 224 mothers ("interview group") were contacted by telephone at an infant age of 5-7 months. The colic occurrence was determined according to four different definitions; the rate varied from 3.3 to 17.1%. The classical "Wessel-type" colic was present in 9.3%. Colic defined as "crying seen as a problem by parent" was present in 12.1% of the "interview group", but in only 3.3% of the "diary group". Some earlier studies may have overestimated colic occurrence. Another possibility is an actual decline. The contributive part of preventive measures is discussed.

[The classification of a combination of cholelithiasis and urolithiasis]. / Klassifikatsiia sochetaniia zhelchnokammennoi i mochekamennoi bolezni.

In 105 patients, the combination of bili- and urolithiasis was revealed. With the aim of improvement of early diagnosis of biliurolithiasis, the three clinical groups of patients were distinguished. In 60% of patients, metabolic obesity was noted. The authors suggest to extend the indications for combined and consecutive operations in patients with biliurolithiasis.

Chronic acalculous gallbladder disease: a clinical variant.

A review of 228 cholecystectomies done over a two-year period revealed 15 cases (6.6%) in which gallstones were absent. These 15 patients were all characterized by colicky abdominal pain in the right upper quadrant, with a mean duration of eight months. Ultrasonographic examination was falsely positive for gallstones in one third (5/15) of the patients, and further diagnostic evaluation in the remaining two thirds (10/15) failed to define a clear-cut surgical problem. All 15 patients ultimately had operation on the basis of symptoms. Every patient reported resolution of preoperative symptoms at short-term follow-up (four to eight weeks). Seven patients available for long-term follow-up (ten to 27 months) reported complete symptomatic resolution. The postoperative outcome failed to correlate reliably with gallbladder histology, bile cultures, and results of diagnostic testing. There was no mortality, and morbidity was limited to three patients. This series confirms previous reports of a small set of relatively young, healthy patients having chronic disabling symptoms of gallbladder disease in the absence of gallstones. Our results suggest that the most reliable factor predicting a successful outcome of cholecystectomy in these patients was the presence of severe biliary colic.

Cube colic.

"Cube colic" is described and vain attempts to cause the problem on an experimental basis are recorded. It is concluded that not all horses are susceptible to cube colic and if colic occurs in horses being fed on cubes, it is not necessarily due to feeding of cubes. Nomenclature of bowel disorders is considered.