Acute Pancreatitis in a Horse - a Case Report

This report presents a case of acute pancreatitis in a 30 year old local breed horse. The horse was diagnosed clinically with severe acute abdominal pain, distended small intestine, a left dorsal large colon displacement and large colon impaction. On post mortem examination pathological changes in the pancreas were observed without intestinal impaction. Histopathologically, the pancreatic lesions were diagnosed as acute pancreatitis with peripancreatic fat necrosis. In addition to these findings, multifocal necrotizing hepatitis was identified as well as a mild interstitial nephritis and tubular nephrosis. This case demonstrates the difficulty in making a clinical diagnosis of pancreatitis in a horse and the importance of a thorough macroscopic and histological evaluation of the pancreas in horses with a history of abdominal pain.