Glossary
Colic.
Direct answer
Colic in the horse means signs of abdominal pain, whatever the underlying cause. Colic is therefore a symptom and not a diagnosis: it can cover mild and transient disturbances as well as situations that require immediate veterinary assessment.
The breadth of the term is its essence. Pawing, looking at the flank, lying down repeatedly or rolling are non-specific behaviours and, on their own, say little about severity. Assessment belongs to the veterinary surgeon, and a common error is to infer the seriousness of the problem from the intensity of the signs.
Anatomy makes the horse particularly vulnerable. The large colon is bulky with narrow flexures, the small intestine hangs on a long mesentery, and vomiting is effectively impossible. In people the word colic usually denotes spasmodic pain of a specific organ, biliary or urinary: the two notions do not overlap.
The evidence letter
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