The Gastroscope is a long camera that allows us to visualise the stomach of patients suspected of having gastric ulceration. We hire the scope twice a year and we often have many surprises, with horses we were expecting to be free from ulceration and unfortunately this is not the case!!
The gastroscope camera is guided through a tube up the horse’s nose and via the oesophagus into the stomach. Have a look at the pictures!!
Just a little recap on stomach ulceration: Gastric ulceration is a defect of the stomach lining, either of the upper or lower part of the stomach, and sometimes both. It can be caused by multiple factors, such as a low fibre or high starch diet, heavy exercise or stress, among other proposed theories. A horse with gastric ulcers may not show any signs at all or it may display one or more of the following signs: poor appetite, changes in behaviour, poor performance, low body condition and or, recurrent colic.
A severe case of gastric ulceration with crater formation within the stomach lining and active bleeding
The gastroscope allows us to see and grade the ulceration. We grade the upper stomach ulceration based on severity from grade 1 to 4. Lower stomach ulcers are described by appearance only.
The most effective treatment is omeprazole.
Enjoy this week’s images!
Your Central Lakes Equine Team