Principles of intestinal injury and determination of intestinal viability

Marshall, J. and Blikslager, A. (2012) Principles of intestinal injury and determination of intestinal viability. In: Auer, J. and Stick, J. (eds.) Equine Surgery. Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Intestinal injury, although typically associated with ischemic lesions, occurs during any obstructive intestinal disease to varying degrees depending on the type of obstruction and the extent of vascular compromise. In addition, in some instances, the intestinal lumen is patent, but there is vascular compromise—for example, in nonstrangulating infarctions. Intestinal obstructive lesions are classified as either simple or strangulating obstructions. A great deal of work has been done to assess the level of injury encountered with these lesions at surgery and during the postsurgical phase following correction and subsequent reperfusion of these lesions. Although more is known about mucosal injury than about injury encountered in other intestinal layers, it is clear that substantial injury also occurs at the levels of the serosa and the muscularis, which very likely contributes to postoperative complications such as adhesion formation and ileus. Understanding the pathophysiology of these lesions allows the surgeon to more adequately perform surgical and postoperative procedures to optimize patient survival. For example, attention has been focused on the development of intestinal injury during reperfusion, and the possibility of inhibiting these lesions with various treatments. Furthermore, to combat the postoperative complication of serosal inflammation and secondary adhesion formation, surgeons have adopted a number of new treatments.

• Item Type: Book Sections
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Marshall, Dr John
• Authors: Marshall, J., and Blikslager, A.
• Subjects: S Agriculture > SF Animal culture > SF600 Veterinary Medicine
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences
• Publisher: Elsevier