Prognostic Indicators for Survival and Athletic Outcome in Critically Ill Neonatal Foals.

Equine neonatal intensive care units have expanded knowledge and understanding of the normal and abnormal physiology of the equine neonate, resulting in successful treatment of critically ill equine neonates. The overall survival rate has increased tremendously since the early 1980s, from a little more than 50% to 80% or more for most facilities. The severely septic foal and the very premature foal still remain large treatment challenges, but less severely septic foals and foals challenged by adverse peripartum events such as dystocia and placentitis are surviving to hospital discharge and performing to the owners' expectation in larger numbers.