Abstract
The effects of fluid therapy with maintenance enteral electrolytic solutions administered by nasogastric route in continuous flow have not previously been studied in weaned foals. This study primary goal was to compare the effects of two maintenance enteral electrolytic solutions administered by nasogastric route in continuous flow on the hydro electrolytic balance in weaned foals. This paper was a controlled trial in a cross-over design (6 × 2) performed in six foals with a mean age of 7.3 ± 1.4 months; each animal received two treatments, IsoES and HypoES, with an interval of 7 days between treatments. After 12 h of fasting, the animals were treated with enteral electrolyte solutions administered via nasogastric route in continuous flow in a volume of 15 mL/kg/h for 12 h. The evaluations were performed at T-12h (the beginning of the fasting), T0h (end of fasting and beginning of fluid therapy), T4h (4 h of fluid therapy), T8h (8 h of fluid therapy), T12h (end of fluid therapy), and T24h (12 h after the end of fluid therapy). Twelve hours of fasting resulted in a reduction (P < 0.05) in body weight, abdominal circumference, whereas serum sodium, SID and enophthalmos increased. Twelve hours of fluid therapy normalized these parameters and promoted increased urinary volume and decreased urinary density without causing electrolyte imbalances. Both enteral electrolytic solutions were effective in reestablishing clinical and laboratorial variables without causing electrolyte imbalances.
Highlights
Foals are more sensitive to hydro electrolytic imbalances than adult horses because they have a higher percent of water in the body, higher metabolic rates, and greater insensible water losses [1]
After 12 h of fasting, at the beginning of the fluid therapy phase (T0h), the animals of both groups showed a decrease in body weight (Table 2)
The body weight returned to values similar to T-12h after 4 h of fluid therapy (T4h) and remained stable until the end of the experiment (T24h)
Summary
Foals are more sensitive to hydro electrolytic imbalances than adult horses because they have a higher percent of water in the body, higher metabolic rates, and greater insensible water losses [1]. Enteritis and bronchopneumonia are the main diseases that affect these animals and trigger hydro electrolytic and base-acid imbalances, and dehydration [2, 3] The presence of these changes makes it mandatory to use fluid therapy with electrolytic solutions to correct these disorders. Enteral fluid therapy (EFT) by nasogastric route in bolus or continuous flow is an important hydration method It is effective for patient rehydration, expansion of blood volume, and correction of electrolyte and acid-base imbalances in various animal species [4,5,6,7] and humans [8, 9]. It is not commonly used in foals, mainly in neonates, because reports of its use are not widespread in the literature and mainly because there are not commercial products available, due to an absence of experimental studies on maintenance enteral electrolyte solutions in foals
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