Clinical and laboratory evaluation in horses submitted to intracecal fluid therapy administered in two different rates

José Dantas Ribeiro Filho^1*Brenda Ventura Lopes Carvalho¹Maria Carolina Neves de Souza^1,2Nadyne Souza Moreira¹Julia Parisi Marliere¹João Victor Mesquita Mota¹Lucas Drummond Bento¹Anaïs De Castro Benitez¹Marcel Ferreira Bastos Avanza¹Raffaella Bertoni Cavalcanti Teixeira¹José Ricardo Barboza Silva¹Rinaldo Batista Viana³Bruno Moura Monteiro³Pedro Paulo Maia Teixeira⁴Ramiro Toribio⁵Helio Cordeiro Manso Filho⁶

• ¹Universidade Federal de Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil
• ²University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
• ³Universidade Federal Rural da Amazonia, Belém, Brazil
• ⁴Universidade Federal do Para - Campus Castanhal, Castanhal, Pará, Brazil
• ⁵The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
• ⁶Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil

Introduction: Two routes of administration for electrolyte solutions are commonly used in horses with fluid, electrolyte, and acid-base imbalances: intravenous and nasogastric. Despite the frequent use of these routes, there are situations in which they cannot be applied. In such cases, intracecal fluid therapy represents a viable alternative, as this route enables the administration of enteral electrolyte solutions even in animals lacking normal anterior gastrointestinal function. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a neutral hypotonic enteral electrolyte solution administered intracecally at two different infusion rates in horses experimentally subjected to a 24-hour fasting period. Methods: This study employed a crossover design in which six experimentally dehydrated horses underwent two treatments: Treat10 (10 mL kg⁻¹ h⁻¹) and Treat15 (15 mL kg⁻¹ h⁻¹) with a single neutral solution. Horses were subjected to cecal cannulation via video laparoscopy using a modified Hasson technique to insert a Foley catheter for solution administration. Samples were collected at T-24h (baseline, at the start of the water and food deprivation phase), T0h (at the end of the deprivation phase and the beginning of the fluid therapy), T4h (4 hours after the start of fluid therapy), T8h (8 hours after the start of fluid therapy), T12h (twelve hours after the start of fluid therapy), and T24h (twelve hours after the end of fluid therapy). Blood gas analysis and measurements of serum osmolarity, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, fibrinogen, urea, creatinine, total protein, lactate, and glucose concentrations were performed. Urine samples were analyzed for concentrations of urea, creatinine, sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Results: During the fluid therapy phase in animals from both groups, a progressive decrease in serum urea and potassium concentrations was recorded. A decrease in urinary specific gravity, urea and creatinine was also detected during the same period. Conclusion: Intracecal administration of electrolyte solutions at rates of 10 mL (Treat10) and 15 mL (Treat15) over 12 hours was effective and safe. The electrolyte solution used did not cause significant alterations in electrolyte or acid-base balance, suggesting that its composition is appropriate.