Funiculitis causing sepsis-associated laminitis in a Mangalarga Marcha-dor gelding

Abstract

Castration is one of the most common surgical procedures performed in equine practice, and potential complications may range from mild to life-threatening condi-tions. This paper aims to report clinical and la-boratory features, treatment, and long-term follow-up infor-mation in a case of fu-niculitis causing sepsis-associated laminitis and acute renal failure (ARF) in a Mangalarga Marchador gelding. A 5-years-old Mangalarga Marchador gelding was referred for hospital care after seven days of an open orchiectomy approach on farm-setting. Physical exami-nation revealed hypere-mic mucous mem-branes, dehydration, tachycardia, scrotal swelling with a foul-smelling serousangui-nous discharge, in-creased hoof tempera-ture and digital pulse amplitude, and lame-ness. Laboratory find-ings included leukocy-tosis by neutrophilia, hypoalbuminemia, high creatinine, and urea levels, and an increased number of bacteria, leukocytes, and hyaline cylinders on urine anal-ysis. After three days of intensive care, the horse underwent gen-eral anesthesia for scro-tal ablation and resec-tion of the infected spermatic cord stumps. Microbiological assays revealed Streptococcus spp. and a multi-resistant Escherichia coli. This report high-lights uncommon post-castration complications in a Mangalarga Marchador gelding as a consequence of septic funiculitis. Further-more, the microbiologi-cal isolation of a multi-resistant E. coli strain raises concerns about the indiscriminate use of antibiotics in equine practice.