Tillotson Equine                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

              Internal Medicine Mobile  Services

Click here to learn about prepping your horse for a Gastroscope:  

Videoendoscopy allows visualization of structures deep within the body by using a camera on the end of a long tube and projecting the image from the camera on a television screen.  Below is a brief overview of the uses of endoscopy in the horse:

Gastroscopy is the visualization of the stomach.  In the horse, this requires a specialized endoscope that is over 3 meters long in order to get to the stomach.  The tube is placed up the horse's nose, down into the esophagus and into the horse's stomach.  The horse must be held off its feed for approximately 18 hrs before the procedure so food in the stomach does not block the view of the camera.  The clinical signs of gastric ulcers in the horse can be vague such as decreased appetite, poor hair coat and mild signs of colic.  Gastric ulcers are quite common in the horse and the gold standard treatment for them is expensive.  For this reason, a definite diagnosis of ulcer prior to treatment is often recommended. 

   Dr Tillotson passed the gastroscope

   from the nose to the stomach.

    This is a picture of the antrum which is the

     opening to the small intestine.

    This is a great example of antral hyperemia

    Uncommon picture of a mass in the esophagus

Upper Respiratory Endoscopy:  Respiratory disease is second to musculoskeletal disease as the most common cause of limited athletic performance in the horse.  Early detection is key to returning to performance.  The horse and the rhinocerous are the only two mammals that have a guttural pouch. 

   Thickened stylohyoid bone within the

   guttural pouch.

Last modified: 12/30/09