Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
Topic:Arthritis
Arthritis in horses is a degenerative joint condition characterized by inflammation and deterioration of joint cartilage. It affects the functionality and mobility of joints, leading to pain and stiffness, which can impact a horse's performance and quality of life. The condition is often categorized into osteoarthritis, which involves chronic degeneration, and septic arthritis, which is caused by infection. Diagnosis typically involves clinical evaluation, imaging techniques such as radiography, and synovial fluid analysis. Management strategies may include medical treatments, physical therapy, and in some cases, surgical intervention. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management of arthritis in equine patients.
Identification of interleukin-1 in equine osteoarthritic joint effusions. Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a protein secreted by stimulated cells of the monocyte-macrophage line, which has a number of important biologic activities. Interleukin-1 has been implicated in the induction and augmentation of the pathologic processes involved in arthritis and articular cartilage destruction. Horses develop osteoarthritis with a frequency and degree of severity similar to human beings. To further document the similarity of the osteoarthritic process in people and horses, the synovial fluid from 5 horses with clinical osteoarthritis was tested for IL-1 bioactivity. Interleukin-1 activ...
Open joint injuries in horses: 58 cases (1980-1986). A retrospective study was made of 58 horses with open joint injuries admitted to the veterinary teaching hospital. Twenty-five (43%) were admitted within 24 hours of injury, 15 (26%) were examined 2 to 7 days after injury, and 18 (31%) were evaluated a week or more after the initial injury. The joints of the lower portions of the limbs most commonly were affected, with injuries that varied from puncture wounds to severe lacerations with soft tissue deficits. Diagnosis was made on the basis of clinical signs and results of synovial fluid analysis and radiography. Radiography was found to be an ...
Serum and synovial fluid steady-state concentrations of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine in horses with experimentally induced infectious arthritis. The tarsocrural joints of 11 horses were inoculated with 1.2 to 2.16 x 10(6) viable Staphylococcus aureus organisms susceptible to a trimethoprim-sulfadiazine (TMP-SDZ) combination with minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.25 micrograms of TMP/ml and 4.75 micrograms of SDZ/ml. Antimicrobial treatment consisted of oral administration of a TMP-SDZ combination--30 mg/kg of body weight given once daily (group-1 horses) or 60 mg/kg given as 30 mg/kg every 12 hours (group-2 horses). Paired serum and synovial fluid samples were obtained before intra-articular inoculation with the S aureus, aft...
Use of lag screw fixation for repair of a central tarsal bone fracture in a horse. An 8-year-old Thoroughbred gelding was determined to have a sagittal fracture of the central tarsal bone. Lag screw fixation of the fracture enabled the horse to return to jumping, although degenerative arthritis of the distal intertarsal joint was apparent radiographically 17 months after the injury.
Severe Synovitis in Two Horses due to the Use of Irrigating Solutions Containing Methanol and Formaldehyde. Two horses were examined because of chronic lameness, which followed arthroscopy in one case, and tendon sheath lavage in a second case. Clinical investigations linked both cases to the use of irrigating fluids containing preservatives. The clinical signs were reproduced in a Shetland pony by injection and lavage of the carpal joints with the same fluid. Lameness was slow in onset and accompanied by profound periarticular fibrosis. Postmortem examination confirmed the presence of a severe, erosive, noninfectious arthritis that may have an immune-mediated component. Clinicians should read produ...
Diagnosis of Rhodococcus equi infection in foals by the agar gel diffusion test with protein antigen. A protein antigen that reacted in the agar gel diffusion (AGD) test and which had equi factor(s) activity, was partially purified from the culture supernatant of Rhodococcus equi by successive column chromatography on diethylaminoethyl cellulose and Sepharose 4B. Employing a standard foal serum, the concentration of this antigen was adjusted for the AGD test. Optimal dilutions of the antigen reacted in the AGD test with sera from foals naturally infected with serologically different R. equi. The antigen prepared was considered suitable for use in field surveys of R. equi infection. Accordingly...
Group C streptococcal arthritis. A case report of equine transmission. Presented is the third known case of a group C streptococcal arthritis, this case documented in a healthy 42-year-old horse trainer, apparently transmitted by a mare. After a delayed diagnosis, the patient responded favorably to surgical drainage and parenteral penicillin G, but required a manipulation of his knee under general anesthesia. Although rare, group C streptococcal arthritis can occur in hosts with no apparent predisposing factors. Frequent exposure to farm animals may increase the risk.
Comparison of various treatments for experimentally induced equine infectious arthritis. To evaluate the effects of 5 treatments on clinical responses, synovial fluid analysis, radiographic changes, bacteriologic culture results of the synovial fluid and synovial membrane, microscopic characteristics of the synovial membrane, and articular cartilage histochemistry, Staphylococcus aureus organisms (1.6 X 10(6) colony-forming units) were inoculated into the tarsocrural joints of 12 horses (n = 24 joints; 2 joints/horse). Each horse was given phenylbutazone (2 g) orally, every 24 hours, beginning 24 hours after inoculation. Two horses (ie, 4 joints) were not given other treatment (co...
Arthritis and panuveitis as manifestations of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in a Wisconsin pony. Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi caused panuveitis and arthritis in a pony. Spirochetes were detected by direct immunofluorescence in the anterior chamber of the eye. The carpal joints had severe degenerative joint disease, with synovial proliferation. The synovium and serum had B burgdorferi antibody titers of 1:1024. The pony lived in an area of Wisconsin where infection with B burgdorferi is endemic in human beings. Previously, serum antibodies to B burgdorferi had been found in horses, but disease had not been reported.
Corynebacterium equi Infections in Horses, 1958-1984: A Review of 131 Cases. Of 131 cases of Corynebacterium equi infection in horses submitted for necropsy to the Ontario Veterinary College or Veterinary Laboratory Services, OMAF, Guelph, Ontario from 1958 to 1984, 115 were diagnosed as suppurative pneumonia, and of these 55 had associated ulcerative enterocolitis. Only five animals had intestinal involvement without pulmonary lesions. The remaining 11 cases included arthritis/cellulitis, skin abscesses and submandibular lymphadenitis. While the lung, intestine and associated lymph nodes yielded C. equi most frequently, in 21% of cases C. equi was also cultured from p...
Assessment of prognosis for racing after carpal surgery in 210 Thoroughbreds. The efficacy of treating carpal lesions by arthrotomy was evaluated in 210 Thoroughbred racehorses, using survival analysis to compare their racing performances and earnings with those of 840 control horses. The treated horses were significantly inferior with respect to races contested, and wins plus places (P less than 0.001) and races won (P less than 0.01). There was no difference with respect to earnings (P less than 0.1); after adjusting for other factors, arthritis, site of fracture and presence of a displaced chip had no effect on racing performance in horses with a single-site lesion i...
Hyaluronic acid concentration in synovial fluid from normal and arthritic joints of horses. A method previously described was used to determine the hyaluronic acid concentration in synovia from normal and arthritic horse joints. The concentration of hyaluronic acid in the synovia from arthritic joints was found to be significantly lower than the concentration in fluid from normal joints.
The diagnosis and treatment of arthritis in horses. In this paper on the diagnosis and treatment of arthritis in horses, both degenerative arthritis and septic arthritis are considered. Diagnosis should be made on the combination of clinical examination together with the use of diagnostic aids such as radiology, intra-articular local anaesthesia and synovial fluid analysis. Intra-articular therapy appears to be the most effective in the treatment of degenerative arthritis. Excellent responses to therapy have been reported with corticosteroids, sodium hyaluronate, orgotein and synovial fluid transfer, where joints showed an absence of degenerati...
Navicular disease in the horse. The synovial membrane of bursa podotrochlearis. The histopathological changes in the synovial membrane of bursa podotrochlearis are described in horses with navicular disease. The changes are compared to the histopathological findings in synovial membrane of arthrotic pastern joints in horses and of arthrotic hips in man. A high degree of concordance is demonstrated and this suggests that navicular disease is an arthrotic disease.
Experimentally induced arthritis of the equine carpus: histologic and histochemical changes in the articular cartilage. Arthritis was experimentally induced in the intercarpal joints of a series of mature ponies by the intraarticular injections of 400 microgram of the polyene antibiotic filipin in 1 ml of dimethyl sulfoxide. Twelve consecutive weekly injections were administered and the ponies were euthanatized 4 weeks after the last injection of filipin was made. The ponies were exercised for 1 hour each day throughout the experiment. Articular cartilage specimens from 4 sites in each intercarpal joint were examined histologically and histo-chemically. For the histochemical examination, safranin O-fast green, ...
Treatment of traumatic arthritis in the horse with intra-articular orgotein (palosein). A total of 134 horses of various breeds were treated for aseptic arthritis of traumatic origin using Orgotein (Palosein). The drug was injected into 192 affected joints of these animals. Recovery rates of 94 per cent were recorded in cases which had shown lameness for less than 2 months before treatment commenced and 49 per cent in those lame for longer than 2 months.
Bilateral luxation of the coffin joints in a horse, as a sequel to palmar neurectomy. Complications from neurectomy have been well known for many years. A 16-year-old mare suffered bilateral luxation of the coffin joints following palmar neurectomy and was destroyed. Autopsy showed complete rupture of the deep flexor tendons, and the supporting ligaments of the coffin joints. Arthritis of the coffin joints, with erosion of articular cartilage was evident.
LDH and LDH isoenzymes of synovial fluid in the horse. LDH is an intracellular enzyme, which when cells degenerate is released to the extracellular spaces and body fluids. Cells and organs in the mammalian body differ from each other with respect to their LDH isoenzyme patterns. These circumstances have led to the use of LDH isoenzyme determinations in laboratory diagnostic work. In the present investigation total LDH activity and LDH isoenzyme distribution in equine synovial fluid from healthy joints, joints with serous arthritis, osteochondrosis dissecans and arthrosis, were determined. The fluids from the diseased joints differed from normal sy...
Viscosity of equine synovial fluid. Synovial fluid samples from 51 light horses were examined with respect to their rhéologie properties. The analyses were made with a Rotovisco RV3 rotational viscosimeter. Samples from carpal, stifle and hock joints and from healthy joints, joints with synovitis and joints with infectious arthritis were studied. The analyses showed that synovial fluids from both healthy and diseased joints have complex rhéologie properties. In most samples the viscosity varied with the shear rates, the main exceptions being synovial fluids from joints with infectious arthritis. Flow curves (flow behaviour), r...
Intra-articular treatment of arthritis in race-horses with sodium hyaluronate. Forty-five race-horses with arthritis of non-in-fectious type in 54 joints were treated with sodium hyaluronate intra-articularly. All joints had previously been treated without lasting success by conventional methods, such as firing, blistering or intraarticular injection of cortisone. In most cases only 1 injection of 2 ml (20 mg) sodium hyaluronate was needed. To avoid subjective evaluation, the effects of the treatment were based on the joint’s capacity of withstanding extreme stress, which means that the horse should be able to train and race again. The treatment was concentrated on the...
