Chronic diarrhea in the adult horse is diarrhea lasting more than a month, and it is usually a diagnostic puzzle rather than an emergency. The causes are mostly infiltrative, inflammatory or neoplastic, or a disturbance of colonic fermentation, not the infectious agents behind acute colitis. Granulomatous enteritis (GE) is one of the idiopathic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) of horses, and the NAVLE tends to present it as weight loss with low serum protein rather than as a diarrhea case.
Key facts
Chronic diarrhea-Granulomatous enteritis at a glance- Species and system: horse; small and large intestine.
- Definition: diarrhea persisting longer than 1 month (MSD).
- IBD group: granulomatous enteritis (GE), lymphocytic-plasmacytic enterocolitis (LPE), multisystemic eosinophilic epitheliotropic disease (MEED) and idiopathic focal eosinophilic enterocolitis (IFEE).
- Classic presentation: weight loss, hypoproteinemia (protein-losing enteropathy and malabsorption), with or without diarrhea.
- Predisposition: Standardbreds seem predisposed to GE and MEED, suggesting a genetic component (MSD).
- Prognosis: grave for most forms; IFEE is the exception because a focal lesion can be resected.
What's inside
11 sections in the full guide- Key facts
- How the NAVLE tests this
- Cause and pathophysiology
- Clinical signs
- Diagnosis
- Differential diagnoses
- Treatment and management
- Prognosis
- Quick review
- Test yourself
- References
The full guide also has 4 tables, 1 figure, 3 self-test questions and 4 references, available to NAVLE members.
Read the full study guide
The full guide is part of every NAVLE plan, with diagnosis and treatment tables, figures, a quick review and self-test questions. Start a free trial to try the question bank, or log in if you are already a member.