Horses which have an implant placed at the time of an eye removal have increased odds of infection.
Though an implant that fills out the socket may look less startling to some horse owners, the increased risk of infection should give owners pause.
Researchers from Utrecht University in the Netherlands reviewed the records of 107 horses that had undergone enucleation (eye removal surgery); 49 of the horses had eye implants placed at the same time.
The study team found that 7.5 percent of the horses developed surgical-site infections, but the horses that had implants had a 7.5 time greater risk of infection. All of the horses with implants that developed an infection required a second surgery to remove the implant.
The scientists found that horses who had an eye removed for globes that were too large or too small, uveitis, or tumors inside the eye had a lower risk of surgical site infection than those who needed their eye removed because of infected ulcers, tumors on the globe's exterior, or corneal perforation or rupture. Out of this group, 17 percent of the horses that got an implant developed an infection that necessitated implant removal.
Read more at EQUUS magazine.
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