Colic- surgery prognosis

[striderrider]

My friend has a horse that just had to have colic surgery. They took out a bunch of fatty material in his gut that was "tied" around his intestines. They had to cut out about 5 feet of intestines. He is now in recovery and he is doing ok but not great. She is on pins and needles for the next few days while this plays out. Anyone know what the prognosis is for a full working recovery is for something like this??

[peppysan]

It's very tough to tell. It could go either way at this point. Typically horses that have had pieces of the intestine cut out and removed have a greater chance for more complications. 5 feet is not a small amount. I don't want to seem negative but ususally the less you have to alter the horse in a colic surgery, the better. From what I have heard, the ones that do the best after have just had some sort of bowl displacements i.e. something was in the "wrong spot" and just had to be moved back into place. Either way, there is now the risk of founder as well from the stress of the surgery. Hopefully he pulls through this.

[striderrider]

And if he does recover ok will he be able to go back to regular riding?

[peppysan]

If all goes well with recovery then yes they can be just as they were before the surgery. There will be about 3 months of total rest though so the incision can heal possibly longer if he founders and then he will have to come back gradually because he will need to get his fitness back.