The majority of our surgical cases require horses to be placed under general anaesthesia, which is carried out under the expert care of Cambridge University’s veterinary anaesthesia department. Our facilities are equipped with purpose-built recovery stalls in which our patients are assisted to stand during recovery from anaesthesia to make the procedure as safe as possible.
Types of surgery that are most frequently performed that require general anaesthesia include colic surgery to explore the abdomen, arthroscopy to treat injuries to the joints or tendon sheaths, surgery to treat upper airway (wind) disorders, splint bone fractures, cryptorchid castrations and hernia repairs in young horses.
Where possible, we elect to do more surgeries with the horse conscious and standing. These are performed in the stocks in the surgery suite, with the horse under heavy sedation and using local anaesthesia techniques, such as epidurals.
We offer minimally invasive surgeries, such as laparoscopy for some abdominal procedures and sinoscopy to treat sinus conditions of the head, which typically result in decreased patient discomfort and convalescent times.
For further enquiries, please email cambridgeequine@vet.cam.ac.uk or call 01223 760535.
