Respiratory Distress in the Adult and Foal

Abstract

Respiratory distress in the horse and foal is an emergency. Managing equine respiratory distress in the field starts with appropriate assessment of the patient to determine whether the breathing obstruction stems from the upper or lower respiratory tract or is nonrespiratory in origin. From a thorough, but efficient, physical examination to point-of-care ultrasound and endoscopy, the veterinarian has many tools in the field to help diagnose the patient.

Keywords: Lower respiratory; Lung; Nasopharynx; Obstruction; Pulmonary; Trachea; Upper respiratory.