Endoscopy is an important diagnostic tool in equine medicine, and appropriate preparation and technique minimize welfare impacts on examined horses.
Endoscopic examination is often essential for accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment in horses with respiratory or gastrointestinal problems. The welfare consideration is ensuring that the diagnostic benefit justifies any procedural stress, and that technique is optimized to minimize discomfort. Food restriction before gastroscopy causes hunger in animals that naturally graze almost continuously. Appropriate sedation transforms an intensely aversive procedure into a manageable one. When endoscopy enables diagnosis and treatment of conditions like gastric ulcers that cause chronic pain, the welfare balance is clearly positive.