Laparoscopically assisted cecal cannulation in standing horses

Brenda Ventura Lopes Carvalho¹Maria Carolina Neves de Souza¹Marcel Ferreira Bastos Avanza¹Raffaella Bertoni Cavalcanti Teixeira¹José Ricardo Barbosa Silva¹Thiago da Silva Cardoso²Luis Gustavo e Silva Novais²Francisco Décio De Oliveira Monteiro^3*Rinaldo Batista Viana⁴Bruno Moura Monteiro⁴Pedro Paulo Maia Teixeira²José Dantas Ribeiro Filho¹

• ¹Universidade Federal de Vicosa Departamento de Medicina Veterinaria, Viçosa, Brazil
• ²Universidade Federal do Para - Campus Castanhal, Castanhal, Pará, Brazil
• ³Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Tocantins (IFTO), Tocantis, Brazil
• ⁴Universidade Federal Rural da Amazonia, Belém, Brazil

Access to the equine cecum is required for various therapeutic and experimental procedures, including decompression, fluid therapy, and transfaunation. Traditional approaches via laparotomy are highly invasive. This study aimed to describe a minimally invasive, laparoscopically assisted technique for cecal cannulation in standing horses. Seven horses underwent the procedure under sedation and paravertebral anesthesia. Two right flank accesses were created: a 10-mm laparoscopic port for visualization and a 2-cm minilaparotomy for cecal exteriorization. A Foley catheter was inserted via typhlotomy and secured with seromuscular sutures. Postoperative management included clinical monitoring and two sessions of intracecal fluid therapy. The technique was successfully completed in six of seven horses (85.7%). The catheter remained functional and was used for repeated fluid administration over 22 days without leakage. Horses maintained normal appetite, behaviour, and intestinal motility. One horse developed fatal peritonitis following immediate postoperative fluid therapy, highlighting the importance of a 24–48 hour recovery period before highvolume infusion. Local wound exudation was managed effectively without systemic complications. This standing laparoscopic technique provides a safe, practical, and minimally invasive method for establishing long-term cecal access. It offers a significant advantage over traditional laparotomy by reducing surgical trauma and enabling repeated postoperative therapeutic interventions for conditions like impaction or dysbiosis.