This project is about a new ‘state of the art’ surgical and imaging facility for the treatment of sick horses and farm animals which will also provide adequate space for teaching advanced clinical techniques to an increasing number of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The New Facility under construction May 2011

The construction of the new large animal surgery building has begun and is on course to be completed in early November 2011, but our Appeal continues because the next part of our project is to fund the purchase and installation of a standing Magnetic  Resonance Imagine (M R I) system at the University of Bristol’s Equine Centre.

In order to maximise the benefit of Bristol’s equine hospital development, it is imperative that the diagnostic imaging facilities are upgraded to those at the cutting edge of modern technology.  There is currently no equine practice in the south West offering CT and MRI facilities.   It is also appropriate for such advanced imaging technology to be in a research and teaching institution where the technique can be validated and improved.

These facilities will complete the development of the Bristol Equine Centre, providing the best possible medical and surgical treatment for all patients, as well as improving the training of veterinary and veterinary nursing undergraduates and postgraduates for generations to come.

• linked to the equine diagnostic building 
• adjacent to the clinical stables
• adjacent to the MRI facility

It will have:

• two high specification operating theatres enabling higher levels of sterility
• orthopaedic suite
• general theatre for colic and other soft tissue surgery
• anaesthetic induction box and two recovery boxes
• stocks for standing surgeries
• an overhead rail system allowing complete flexibility of transfer of anaesthetized animals between theatres and induction and recovery boxes
• one way access to the theatres for surgeons and sterile instruments
• separate exit routes to the cleaning facilities for contaminated personnel and instruments
• instrument sterilization area
• staff and student changing facilities
• generous allowance for teaching space permitting maximum teaching and learning benefit from work performed in the building.
• Standing MRI in an adjacent building

The purpose of the Facilities

The investigation, diagnosis and treatment of patients at the Bristol Equine Centre has several important welfare considerations and the collective clinical expertise provides a central referral service to practitioners.

Clinical teaching is of immense value to veterinary students and clinical scholars who will subsequently take their training into the field in this country and abroad.  Information acquired from clinical cases is a source of research data for large animal welfare and disease prevention.  This information is made available to horse owners, farmers and veterinary practitioners by publication and conference presentations.

Installation of a standing MRI scanner, alongside an equine CT imaging facility, will have a direct welfare benefit to individual animals referred to Langford for the diagnosis of lower limb lameness.  As discussed above, a range of conditions affecting the distal limb of the horse require MRI imaging for accurate diagnosis. With a full complement of state of the art diagnostic imaging tools, we can deliver a truly top class clinical service by improving diagnosis and delivering more targeted treatment thus reducing pain and suffering. Where conditions carry a good prognosis, animals can return to full time productive work more rapidly.

Research has identified lameness as the most common veterinary problem affecting British horses of all types and uses. This survey, undertaken as part of the National Equine Council’s strategy to improve horse welfare in the UK, has revealed that lameness affects 11% of horses and it is already well established that conditions affecting the distal limb are by far the most common problem.  Clearly if veterinary surgeons are able to diagnose lower limb lameness more accurately there will be an enormous welfare benefit. Conditions that have a good prognosis can be treated appropriately before pathological changes have advanced thereby enabling horses to return to full activity more rapidly.  Conversely, conditions with a poor prognosis can be identified early which should prevent undue long-term suffering of affected individuals.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging confers detailed, three-dimensional information on both bone and soft tissue and sets the gold standard in imaging. Expanding clinical knowledge and improvements in technology  means that this imaging modality has become an integral and essential part of lameness evaluations,  in particular it has removed a ‘veil’ from imaging tissues within the equine foot.  MRI is proving to be invaluable  for  diagnosing lesions of the deep digital flexor tendon, the navicular bone, the navicular bursa, the distal interphalangeal joint and sesamoid ligaments.

The proposed buildings will house diagnostic, surgical and  treatment facilities that will be unique to the region thus confirming Langford  as a centre of excellence for the treatment  and care of horses and farm animals, the training of undergraduate and postgraduate veterinary surgeons, and the development of welfare research.

In summary, the wider horse and farm animal population has much to gain from the development of clinical facilities and expertise at the Bristol Equine Centre.