Treatment of esophagogastric intussusception due to cryptosporidiosis using paromomycin in a corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus)

Abstract

A 3-year-old captive corn snake (Pantherophis guttatus) was taken our veterinary clinic with a complaint of intermittent body swelling. Radiography revealed soft-tissue swelling, and ultrasonography confirmed intussusception of the digestive tract. Celiotomy revealed esophagogastric intussusception, which was subsequently corrected. Histopathological examination of gastric mucosal biopsy and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from feces were revealed protozoan parasitism within the lesion and detected specific genes of Cryptosporidium spp. Oral administration of puromycin at 100 mg/kg once daily for 10 days, subsequently twice weekly for 90 days under strict hygiene management were conducted as postoperative treatment. The snake was in good clinical health. PCR and ultrasonography for Cryptosporidium spp. 752 days after surgery showed no evidence of cryptosporidiosis.