Hyperimmunized Plasma as a Treatment for Horses with Acute Diarrhea

This book includes a review of the pathophysiology of acute colitis in the adult horse and discussion of the more common etiologies for this condition and treatment options available to the equine clinician. The aim of the clinical study performed and documented was to evaluate the use of a hyperimmunized plasma containing high concentration of antibodies against Clostridium difficile Clostridium perfringens and Salmonella sp in a referral population of equine colitis cases.Forty two horses were enrolled and 38 horses completed the study. At study admission clinical and clinicopathological parameters other than fecal frequency score were comparable between the groups. Fecal frequency score was significantly differentbetween the treatment groups (p=0.003). The mean duration of diarrhea was 40.7±9.8 hours (mean ±SEM) 119.2±56.1 hours and 72.0±24.5 hours for the hyperimmunized plasma normal plasma and control groups respectively. This data confirms thehyperimmunized plasma used in this study decreased the time to resolution of diarrhea.