CHOKE 35 



CHOKE 



Choke is the name applied in veterinary practice to that 

 condition resulting from the permanent lodgement of 

 food or other matter in the esophagus. In horses choke 

 is always caused by the arrest of either hay or grain in 

 some portion of the esophagus. Choke from solid bodies, 

 vegetables, for instance, can almost be said never to occur 

 in horses. The pharynx of horses seems to positively 

 refuse passage to any matter that has not gone through 

 the process of mastication quite thoroughly. 



Choke in horses is classified into cervical and thoracic 

 forms. "When the offending matter finds lodgement in 

 that portion of the esophagus anterior to the thorax, it is 

 termed cervical choke. When the lodgement is in the 

 thoracic portion of the esophagus, it is termed thoracic 

 choke. The classification is only of value for purposes 

 of treatment. 



Blocking of the esophagus with food in the horse is 

 possible under two distinct pathological types. The most 

 common type, which includes probably 98 per cent of all 

 cases, is that in which the condition is a purely functional 

 disorder. Because of a peculiar disarrangement in the 

 nerve impulse controlling the esophageal musculature, a 

 spasmodic contraction arrests the progress of a bolus of 

 food on its way to the stomach. A less frequent, in fact, a 

 very rare form, is one in which a structural defect exists 

 in the esophagus in the form of a dilatation, or jabot. 

 Dilatations of the esophagus vary from a very slight en- 

 largement in the diameter from atonic muscular areas 

 to veritable saculations of considerable portions of the 

 tube. 



Choke in horses is always a grave condition, requiring 

 the exercise of much good judgment on the part of the 

 attending veterinarian. In most cases the condition, from 



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