In Practice 22: 308-314 (2000)
© 2000 British Veterinary Association

Clinical approach to the recumbent adult horse

¹ The Large Animal Practice Teaching Unit, the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies.

THE recumbent horse presents a diagnostic, management and therapeutic challenge to the attending veterinary surgeon, who is faced with an array of differential diagnoses. Often a definitive diagnosis cannot be reached in the first instance and treatment must be initiated before one is reached. Horses that are recumbent require meticulous nursing care in order to prevent and treat any complications that may develop, including pressure sores, self-trauma, compressive myopathy and neuropathy, dehydration and malnutrition, and abnormalities of the gastrointestinal system.