The aim of our retrospective study was to produce and analyse epidemiological data on gastrointestinal (GI) disorders of Austrian leisure horses. Case records of horses referred to the Equine Clinic of the Veterinary University of Vienna were collected from an electronic hospital information system using its search options. All cases reported to have suffered a GI disorder between March 2003 and February 2015 were selected. In this period of 4314 days, data of 1833 GI cases, mostly accompanied by colic signs, were analysed. The vast majority of our GI cases appeared in the abdominal parts of the GI tract 96% (1760/1833) while just 1.3% (24/1833) could be definitively attributed to oesophageal disorders, whereas in 2.7% (49/1833) of the cases a definitive diagnosis could not be made. The highest prevalence of GI disorders was seen in July and October/November. A breakdown of figures for cases clustered under the colic syndrome showed that colon impactions in left ventral large and/or pelvic flexure (35%) were the major problem followed by gastric disorders (18%), spasmodic colic (9%), enteritis (7%), caecal tympany (6%); caecal impaction (4%), colitis (3%), abnormal anatomical positions of large colon including complete and partial strangulation/volvulus, nephrosplenic entrapment of the left ventral and dorsal colon and right dorsal displacement of the large colon (3%) and small intestinal volvulus (2.7%). In 12% of the cases, the cause of the abdominal discomfort was likely idiopathic paralytic ileus. The searching tool of the electronic patient data also brought up cases with malabsorbtion/IBD syndrome and GI ruptures, both these contributed less than 1% of the referred GI cases. Results suggested that the causes of colic are diverse, but the major reasons for referred cases of colic in the east Austrian horse population are large colon impaction or displacements. Seasonal distribution and specific causes of gastrointestinal disorders should be considered essential components of the initial clinical assessment of horses presenting with colic.

中文翻译：

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奥地利休闲马转诊医院人群胃肠道疾病的回顾性研究

我们回顾性研究的目的是产生和分析奥地利休闲马胃肠道 (GI) 疾病的流行病学数据。使用其搜索选项从电子医院信息系统收集转诊到维也纳兽医大学马科诊所的马的病例记录。选择了 2003 年 3 月至 2015 年 2 月期间报告患有胃肠道疾病的所有病例。在这 4314 天的时间里，对 1833 例胃肠道病例的数据进行了分析，这些病例大多伴有绞痛症状。绝大多数胃肠道病例出现在胃肠道的腹部，96% (1760/1833) 只有 1.3% (24/1833) 可明确归因于食管疾病，而 2.7% (49/1833)这些病例无法做出明确诊断。7 月和 10 月/11 月出现胃肠道疾病的最高流行率。绞痛综合征病例的数据细分显示，左腹大和/或骨盆弯曲处的结肠嵌塞（35%）是主要问题，其次是胃病（18%）、痉挛性绞痛（9%）、肠炎（ 7%), 盲肠鼓音 (6%); 盲肠嵌塞 (4%)、结肠炎 (3%)、大结肠解剖位置异常，包括完全和部分绞窄/肠扭转、左腹侧和背侧结肠的肾脾卡压以及大结肠 (3%) 和小结肠的右背侧移位肠扭转（2.7%）。在 12% 的病例中，腹部不适的原因可能是特发性麻痹性肠梗阻。电子患者数据的搜索工具还提出了吸收不良/IBD综合征和胃肠道破裂的病例，这两种情况在转诊的 GI 病例中都占不到 1%。结果表明，绞痛的原因是多种多样的，但东奥马群中出现绞痛病例的主要原因是大的结肠嵌塞或移位。胃肠道疾病的季节性分布和特定原因应被视为对出现绞痛的马进行初步临床评估的重要组成部分。