One of 3200 pigs processed at a slaughter house. Clusters of gas bubbles ranging from pinpoint to 1 cm in diameter were along a 20 cm length of distal small intestine. This was the only tissue submitted for examination. Contributor's Diagnosis and Comments. Slight to moderate, diffuse, eosinophilic, lymphocytic enteritis due to parasitism, presumptive.
Intestinal emphysema occurs as an infrequent, incidental lesion in pigs.
As in this case, it is most often found in slaughter house specimens. Grossly, one sees aggregates of gas bubbles within any of the small intestinal layers, adjacent mesentery, and occasionally mesenteric lymph nodes. The associated inflammatory infiltrate is primarily composed of macrophages and giant cells with plasma cells and lymphocytes present in variable numbers. Intestinal emphysema is reported most frequently in pigs and less often in rabbits, chickens and sheep. Many of the gas-filled spaces are endothelial lined, and are presumed to be lymphatics.