Though it can be distressing for a horse owner to send their horse in for a surgery that will remove his eye, the surgery has minimal complications and often leaves the horse much more comfortable than before the enucleation.
English researchers reviewed the records of 170 horses in the UK that had an eye removed between August 2006 and March 2015 in eight different equine hospitals. The reasons necessitating eye removal were not specified, but surgery to remove the eye is often done to relieve chronic pain caused by fungal infections, ulcers, or ongoing uveitis issues.
The scientists also surveyed 119 of the owners on their satisfaction with the surgical outcome.
They discovered that 86 percent of horse owners who were worried about having the surgery done did not have any issues with their horse after the surgery was completed; 90.8 percent of owners were pleased with the surgery's outcome. In addition, 21 percent of owners of horses with eyes removed wished they had done the surgery sooner.
The team also discovered that 77.3 percent of the study horses returned to their previous level or a higher level of performance after having an eye removed.
Read more at EQUUS magazine.
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