Evaluation of a telemetric gastrointestinal pill for continuous monitoring of gastrointestinal temperature in horses at rest and during exercise.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate use of a telemetric gastrointestinal (GI) pill to continuously monitor GI temperature in horses at rest and during exercise and to compare time profiles of GI temperature and rectal temperature. ANIMALS 8 Standardbred horses. PROCEDURES Accuracy and precision of the GI pill and a rectal probe were determined in vitro by comparing temperature measurements with values obtained by a certified resistance temperature detector (RTD) in water baths at various temperatures (37 degrees, 39 degrees, and 41 degrees C). Subsequently, both GI and rectal temperature were recorded in vivo in 8 horses over 3 consecutive days. The GI temperature was recorded continuously, and rectal temperature was recorded for 3.5 hours daily. Comparisons were made between GI temperature and rectal temperature for horses at rest, during exercise, and after exercise. RESULTS Water bath evaluation revealed good agreement between the rectal probe and RTD. However, the GI pill systematically underestimated temperature by 0.14 degrees C. In vivo, GI temperature data were captured with minimal difficulties. Most data loss occurred during the first 16 hours, after which the mean +/- SD data loss was 8.6 +/- 3.7%. The GI temperature was consistently and significantly higher than rectal temperature with an overall mean temperature difference across time of 0.27 degrees C (range, 0.22 degrees to 0.32 degrees C). Mean measurement cessation point for the GI pill was 5.1 +/- 1.0 days after administration. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE This study revealed that the telemetric GI pill was a reliable and practical method for real-time monitoring of GI temperature in horses.