The fibreoptic endoscope is mostly used for examining the airways of the horse although it also can also be used for examining either the bladder or the oesophagus! For any of these procedures the horse may need to be sedated. At Stable Close Equine Practice our endoscopy is completely mobile. We can carry out endoscopy at your yard rather than having to bring the horse to us.

The endoscope can be passed up one of the nostrils and straight away enables visual assessment of the structures within the nasal cavities. Within each side of the horse's nasal cavity there are 3 separate channels or 'meati'. Within these there are complex folded structures called nasal conchae and ethmoids. These can be examined with the endoscope for a variety of abnormalities e.g. haematomas, cancerous growths etc.

Further backwards into the pharynx there are two openings into the eustachian tubes (these being the tubes that connect the back of the throat to the middle ear). In the horse the eustachian tubes are wide enough that we can pass up an endoscope and this can be extremely useful because very quickly the eustachian tubes widen out into a guttural pouch. Each pouch encloses a volume of 300 to 500 ml and these can become infected. Endoscopy is very useful for detecting a guttural pouch infection and also for treating it. Guttural pouches are peculiar to the Perissodactyla (the horse and its relatives the tapir and rhinoceros!) and are not seen in any other species.

Also in the pharynx we can examine the soft palate, epiglottis, pharyngeal lymph tissue, the larynx, arytenoids and vocal folds. It is essential in any horse that these structures are normal. Where there is an abnormality it can be detrimental to the air flow during exercise and serious for any horse that is a competing athlete.

Further down again into the trachea (or windpipe) we can examine the quality and quantity of fluid exudate. This may be particularly important in diagnosing lung disease. It is possible to pass the endoscope right down to where the trachea splits into large bronchi at the bifurcation. A lavage ('tracheal wash') can be obtained from the trachea for examination of cells (cytology) and culture of any disease causing organisms (bacteriology). A broncho-alveolar-lavage may also be used to wash cells from the lungs, including the lower bronchioles and alveolar air sacs. The wash fluid can then be analysed for accurate diagnosis of lung disease.

 

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