A multicenter retrospective case–cohort study on the prevalence of incisional morbidities in late pregnant mares following exploratory celiotomy (2014–2019): 579 cases

Objective To report the prevalence and risk factors for incisional morbidities in late pregnant and nonpregnant/early pregnant control mares following colic surgery. Design Multicenter, retrospective, cohort study from January 2014 to December 2019. Setting Two university teaching hospitals and 1 private referral center. Animals Five hundred and seventy‐nine fillies and mares ≥2 years old that underwent celiotomy. Pregnant mares (n = 54) were >240 days in gestation from the last known breeding date and were compared to control females (n = 525) undergoing colic surgery. Interventions None. Measurements and Main Results Morbidity rates were not different between mare groups with 56% of pregnant mares and 51% of control mares reporting at least 1 morbidity. Incisional swelling was the most common reported complication in both groups. Incisional swelling was associated with shorter hospital stays (odds ratio [OR], 0.18; P