Avaliação endoscópica do trato respiratório superior e inferior proximal em cavalos de vaquejada

Abstract

Brazil has currently the third largest herd of horses in the world with 5.9 million animals, stimulating economic activity of billions of U. S. dollars per year. In the Northeast of Brazil, the most important socio-economic equestrian activity is known as Vaquejada, where two riders gallop alongside a cow, one of them keeping the cow in a straight line, the other grabbing its tail and flipping it over onto its back before reaching the finish line. Highperformance athlete horses require heathy organic function to reach expected performance. Due to the importance of the respiratory system as the main entrance of many diseases and it´s direct influence in athletic performance and because of inexistent scientific literature in this subject, the aim of this study was to identify upper and lower respiratory tract alterations through endoscopy technique in vaquejada resting horses. 103 animals were evaluated within 30 and 45 minutes after exercise with no physical alterations or history of respiratory changes. Affections present in the upper respiratory tract were Follicular Hyperplasia (14/103) Recurrent Laryngeal Neuropathy (21/103), Epiglottic Entrapment (1/103). In the lower respiratory tract we observed the presence of Exercise-Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage (25/103) and Inflammatory Airway Disease (36/103). Endoscopic airway examination, as a safe, low cost and of easy implementation exame, should become routine in these horse populations, expanding diagnosis ability and providing a better approach to correct treatment.