Disease treatment in horses encompasses a range of medical interventions and management strategies aimed at addressing various health conditions affecting equine species. These treatments can include pharmacological approaches, such as the administration of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, and antiparasitic medications, as well as non-pharmacological methods like physical therapy, dietary adjustments, and surgical procedures. The selection of appropriate treatments depends on the specific disease, its severity, and the individual needs of the horse. This topic brings together peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the efficacy, safety, and advancements in therapeutic options for equine diseases, providing insights into best practices and emerging trends in equine veterinary medicine.
Gaughan EM.Skeletal origins of exercise intolerance and performance failure can reside in multiple tissues. Diagnosis of injury that results in an ability to continue to exercise, yet inefficiently do so, requires familiarity with evaluation of subtle lameness and often with the specific demands of the different equine sports. Imaging is usually vital to diagnosis development and understanding of lesion influences on locomotion. Therapy is lesion dependent. Return to competitive exercise and performance is dictated by an understanding of skeletal tissue response to injury, rational progressive treatment,...
Baerg SD, Russell DA, LeVan LM, Kirker-Head CA.A 22-year-old thoroughbred gelding was presented for evaluation and treatment of chronic dental disease. The horse had a history of quidding and abnormal bite behavior. Intraoral examination revealed signs of chronic generalized gingival inflammation and severe dental caries affecting the maxillary and mandibular incisor teeth. Treatment was provided on two separate visits over an interval of four months. The first visit consisted of the surgical extraction of three unrestorable incisor teeth and restoration of six carious maxillary incisor teeth. The second visit consisted of conventional end...
Ringger NC, Lester GD, Neuwirth L, Merritt AM, Vetro T, Harrison J.To investigate the prokinetic effect of bethanechol and erythromycin in the upper gastrointestinal tract of healthy horses by measuring the gastric emptying (GE) rate of a radioactive meal. Methods: 4 healthy adult horses. Methods: After food was withheld for 12 hours, horses were given 370 MBq of 99mTc-labeled sulfur colloid incorporated into egg albumen and 37 MBq of 111In-labeled diethyltriaminepentaacetic acid in 120 ml of water via nasogastric intubation. Intravenously administered treatments were 0.9% NaCl solution, erythromycin (0.1 or 1.0 mg/kg of body weight), or bethanechol (0.25 mg/...
The Journal of physiologyDecember 1, 1996
Volume 497 ( Pt 2), Issue Pt 2 349-364 doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.1996.sp021773
Hanna WJ, Tsushima RG, Sah R, McCutcheon LJ, Marban E, Backx PH.1. The Na+ channel mutation associated with equine hyperkalaemic periodic paralysis (HPP) affects a highly conserved phenylalanine residue in an unexplored region of the alpha-subunit. This mutation was introduced into the rat skeletal muscle Na+ channel gene at the corresponding location (i.e. F1412L) for functional expression and characterization in Xenopus oocytes. 2. In comparison with wild-type (WT) channels, equine HPP channels showed clear evidence for disruption of inactivation: increased time-to-peak current, slowed rates of whole-cell current decay, significant increases in sustained...
Whittem T, Firth EC, Hodge H, Turner K.This study examined the pharmacokinetics of steady-state phenylbutazone and single bolus intravenous gentamicin when administered together in the horse. The trial design was completed as a cross-over with seven thoroughbred horses. In the first phase each horse received 2.2 mg/kg gentamicin intravenously. After a 2-week washout, each horse received 4.4 mg/kg phenylbutazone intravenously every 24 h for 5 days. On the fourth day each horse received gentamicin as before. Plasma was harvested for gentamicin concentration determination by fluorescence polarization immunoassay and for phenylbutazone...
Ensink JM, Klein WR, Barneveld A, Vulto AG, Van Miert AS, Tukker JJ.The distribution of penicillins into a tissue chamber implanted subcutaneously in ponies was studied. Ampicillin sodium (equivalent to 15 mg/kg ampicillin) was administered intravenously. Pivampicillin, a prodrug of ampicillin, was administered by nasogastric tube to fed ponies at a dose of 19.9 mg/kg (equivalent to 15 mg/kg ampicillin). Procaine penicillin G was administered intramuscularly at a dose of 12 mg/kg (equivalent to 12000 IU/kg). Six ponies were used for each medication. Antibiotic concentrations in plasma and tissue chamber fluid (TCF) were measured for 24 h after administration. ...
Hillyer MH, Innes JF, Patteson MW, Barr AR.Discospondylitis, of presumed bacterial origin, was diagnosed in an adult thoroughbred racehorse. The clinical signs were vague and associated with abnormal mobility of the neck and forelimbs. Clinical pathology showed only a non-specific inflammatory response. A scintigraphic examination revealed the site of the lesion and the diagnosis was confirmed by the identification of radiographic changes affecting two thoracic vertebrae. A prolonged course of antimicrobial agents produced a complete recovery and the horse returned to full athletic use.
Chapman MR, French DD, Monahan CM, Klei TR.Three fecal egg count reduction assays (FECR) and one critical trial were performed to determine the efficacy of pyrantel pamoate (PP) at 6.6 mg base kg-1 on a well managed stud farm in Louisiana where a loss of efficacy was suspected. Efficacy of PP based on FECR varied from 25% in mares to 83% in yearlings. Second treatments with PP 2 weeks following an initial treatment failed to reduce eggs per gram (EPG). A critical trial was performed to determine the cyathostome species resistant to PP. Three strongyle-naive ponies which acquired infections on the farm were used for this purpose. Follow...
Anderson BH, Turner TA, Kobluk CN.Successful treatment of a comminuted frontal plane fracture of the distal phalanx in a horse is described. The bone fractured through the solar canal, close to the insertion of the deep digital flexor tendon. A hoof case was used to reduce bending and tensile stresses on the solar surface by limiting expansion of the hoof wall during weightbearing. In addition, the heel was elevated, using 3 degrees wedge pads incorporated within the hoof cast, to reduce distraction at the fracture site caused by the pull of the deep digital flexor tendon. Two casts were used over a 4-month period. Complete ra...
Klohnen A, Vachon AM, Fischer AT.To evaluate the use of abdominal ultrasonography as a diagnostic tool in horses with signs of colic. Methods: Prospective study. Methods: 226 horses with signs of acute abdominal pain were compared to 20 clinical normal horses. Methods: The following were performed in horses with signs of colic: physical examination, CBC, abdominal fluid analysis, placement of a nasogastric tube to obtain gastric reflux, abdominal palpation per rectum, and ultrasonography of the abdomen. Results of ultrasonography were compared with the surgical, necropsy, or medical findings. Results: Ultrasonography of horse...
Tetens J, Derksen FJ, Stick JA, Lloyd JW, Robinson NE.To evaluate the efficacy of prosthetic laryngoplasty with and without bilateral ventriculocordectomy for treatment of experimentally induced left laryngeal hemiplegia (LLH). Methods: 15 adult Standardbreds. Methods: Horses were allotted to 3 equal groups. Sham operation (group 1), prosthetic laryngoplasty (group 2), or prosthetic laryngoplasty with bilateral ventriculocordectomy (group 3) was performed after induction of LLH. Upper airway function testing was performed prior to left recurrent laryngeal neurectomy (LRLN), 14 days after LRLN, and 60 and 180 days after surgical treatment. Measure...
Hinckley KA, Fearn S, Howard BR, Henderson IW.Laminitis, a microvascular disease of the equine hoof leads to severe lameness. Exogenous iv 1-arginine and transdermal nitric oxide donors, such as GTN, applied to the pasterns improve lameness during acute laminitis. Near Infrared spectroscopy in an earlier study showed haemostasis and ischaemia in the hoof during acute laminitis, both were alleviated by 1-arginine. Quantitative NIRS in the present study shows that transdermal GTN increases blood flow in the equine hoof. It is concluded that glyceryl trinitrate enhances nitric oxide mediated perfusion within the equine hoof in normal and chr...
Vickers KL, Ross MW.A 4-year-old sexually intact male Standardbred trotter was evaluated for left forelimb lameness. A presumptive diagnosis of severe cartilage damage was made because the horse had a history of infectious arthritis involving the left metacarpophalangeal joint. Arthroscopic evaluation revealed what was presumed to be a large villonodular lesion. The mass was surgically removed, and the horse was treated with procaine penicillin G, trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, phenylbutazone, and polysulfated glycosaminoglycans and eventually returned to racing. Histologic examination of the mass revealed a bed ...
Ringger NC, Pearson EG, Gronwall R, Kohlepp SJ.Five healthy Equidae (4 horses and one pony) were given a single i.v. dose of ceftriaxone (50 mg/kg bwt) to determine the pharmacokinetics and concentration in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Blood was drawn from an i.v. jugular catheter and CSF from a pre-placed, intrathecal catheter. Serum and CSF concentrations were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. The mean serum concentration of ceftriaxone was 144.7 micrograms/ml 15 min after injection and declined to 0.3 microgram/ml 10 h after injection. The elimination rate constant (lambda 2) was 0.63 +/- s.e. 0.23/h, the elimination h...
Merritt AM, Burrow JA, Horbal MJ, Madison JB, Tran T.To better characterize the source of the large nonparietal secretory response to pentagastrin (PG) expressed in gastric contents of cannulated horses. Methods: Adult cross-bred horses: 4 geldings and 1 mare. Methods: Horses were prepared by surgical insertion of a silastic gastric cannula from which gastric contents after feed was withheld could be continuously collected by gravity drainage. During experiments, the horses were lightly restrained in stocks, the gastric cannula was opened, and a catheter was inserted into a jugular vein. Over the next 5 hours, gastric contents were collected in ...
Lyons ET, Tolliver SC, Drudge JH, Stamper S, Swerczek TW, Granstrom DE.Several compounds (n = 13 single or combinations; most at therapeutic dosages) were evaluated between 1977 and 1992 in critical tests (n = 91) against benzimidazole (BZ) resistant small strongyles (Population S) and several other species of internal parasites in Shetland ponies, mostly under 1 year old. The closed breeding herd, from which the test ponies were selected, had been treated every 8 weeks with cambendazole (CBZ) for 4 years (1974-1978) and oxibendazole (OBZ) for 14 years (1978-1992). Published field test data (1974-1992) on older ponies in the herd showed BZ resistance of small str...
Caron JP, Kaneene JB, Miller R.To determine the patterns of use and perceived efficacy of polysulfated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG) for the treatment of degenerative joint disease in horses. Methods: Cross-sectional mail survey. Methods: 1,522 equine practitioners. Methods: Information was obtained on frequency and route of administration of PSGAG for the treatment of each of 4 forms of degenerative joint disease, the efficacy of PSGAG, and its efficacy compared with that of sodium hyaluronate. Data were analyzed by nonparametric and multivariate regression methods. Results: Response rate was 40.5%. Of practitioners responding...
Murray MJ, Eichorn ES.To determine the effect of decreasing gastric acidity in a feed-deprivation protocol on induction of gastric ulcers, and to determine whether stall confinement may be a factor contributing to gastric ulceration in horses. Methods: 8 adult horses, 4 geldings and 4 mares, 3 to 8 years old, and 7 adult horses, 5 geldings and 2 mares, 4 to 11 years old. Methods: Gastric ulceration was induced in horses by alternating 24-hour periods of feed deprivation and ad libitum access to hay, for a total of 96 hours' feed deprivation. This protocol was repeated with the horses receiving the histamine type-2 ...
Dow SM, Wilson AM, Goodship AE.Horses with acute injuries of the superficial digital flexor tendon were treated with a course of seven intramuscular injections of 500 mg of polysulphated glycosaminoglycan at four-day intervals. Clinical assessments of the lesions were made by a veterinary surgeon at the time of each injection and 14 and 28 days after the last injection. A total of 150 courses of the drug were administered and adequately completed assessment forms were returned for 80 cases. Long-term follow-up data were obtained for 19 cases. The subjective assessments by the veterinary surgeons showed that in 80 per cent o...
Van Hoogmoed L, Snyder JR.Four horses were evaluated for clinical signs consistent with small intestinal disease. During exploratory surgery, primary hematomas in the mesentery were found in 2 horses. The third horse developed a hematoma secondary to a mesenteric rent, whereas in the fourth horse, a hematoma developed secondary to strangulation of the bowel by a mesenteric lipoma. Two horses were euthanatized at surgery, because the extensive nature of the hematoma precluded ligation and there was substantial risk of continued hemorrhage postoperatively. The remaining horses recovered from surgery but developed complic...
Jones FS.The lower nasal mucosa and the pharynx of thirty eastern and twenty-three western horses have been examined for streptococci. Eight of the eastern horses carried non-hemolytic streptococci on the nasal mucosa. From the pharynx of six, non-hepiolytic streptococci were cultivated. The throats of eighteen contained strains of the hemolytic type. The nasal mucosa of the eastern horses failed to show hemolytic streptococci. Eight western horses carried non-hemolytic streptococci in the nasal passage; eight also harbored the hemolytic type. Twenty-two strains were isolated from the pharynx. Eleven w...
Wilsher S, Lefranc AC, Allen WR.Fillies completely devoid of endometrial glands (uterine gland knockout; UGKO) would make ideal experimental models in which to study the role of endometrial histotroph in embryogenesis and early fetal development in the mare. Objective: Administration of a synthetic progestagen plus oestrogen to newborn filly foals and, thereafter, at regular intervals to age 6 months, would permanently suppress endometrial gland development. Methods: Nine half-sister Thoroughbred filly foals were treated, in 3 groups, with: A) the weakly active progestagen, norgestomet, administered from birth to age 6 month...
Sokół R, Raś-Noryńska M, Michalczyk M, Raś A, Rapacz-Leonard A, Koziatek S.Studies were carried out in year 2014 during the pasture period (from April to October) in Warmia and Mazury Region. Fecal samples were taken from cold- and warmblood horses from individual and agrotouristic farms with the different housing, feeding and pasture- care practices. Total of 512 horses were examined (320 mares, 170 geldings and 22 stallions). In the group of 185 horses from individual farms, 119 animals (64.3%) were infected with gastro-intestinal parasites. Among the 372 horses from agrotouristic farms 169 (51.7%) were infected with parasites. Most of the animals expelled the eggs...
Grauerholz H.Interrelations between respiration and changes in amplitudes of the QRS-complex of the ECG of horses were investigated. The value of the R-vector and both its components Rx and Ry decrease during inspiration and increase in the expiration phase. It means, that the R-waves in leads from cranial to caudal (y, II, aVF) and from right to left (I) become smaller with inspiration and larger with expiration. The difference of the amplitudes may be important, especially in horses with respiratory problems, so that it has to be noted when evaluating electrocardiograms. For that purpose it is not necess...
Stewart RH, Robertson JT.A grade-4 rectal tear in a mare was successfully repaired per rectum, using a surgical stapling device. The mare had only minor postoperative complications. This technique has some advantages over previously described procedures, but should be reserved for use in selected cases.
Carmalt JL, Carmalt KP, Barber SM.The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of routine dental occlusal equilibration treatment on dressage horse performance. Sixteen horses (11 treated; 5 untreated) ridden by a single rider performed a standardized dressage test twice and were scored by two experienced dressage judges according to recognized movements and rider cues. All horses were sedated and a full-mouth speculum was used to facilitate a complete oral examination. Treated horses had dental equilibration performed using a motorized dental instrument. The horses performed a second test 48-hours after dental eq...
Abid HN, Walter PA, Litchfield H.A 6-year-old Quarter Horse gelding was examined because it had a sharply circumscribed, firm, brown-black, roughly spherical dermal nodule at the right tuber ischii. After it was excised, the lesion did not recur. Microscopically, the dermis of the excised specimen had multiple pyogranulomas, many of which contained thick-walled, dark brown fungal elements, some with internal septation compatible with chromomycotic fungi. Chromomycosis is a rare skin disease in the horse. It may be included in the differential diagnoses of nodular and/or pigmented skin lesions that include melanoma, pyogranulo...
Blaze CA, Robinson NE.Apneic oxygenation was studied in six ponies for 30 minutes, and six horses for 10 minutes. Arterial blood was sampled at regular intervals for measurement of oxygen and carbon dioxide tensions (PaO2 and PaCO2) and calculation of alveolar-arterial oxygen tension difference (PAO2-PaO2). In both groups of animals, PaO2 decreased rapidly during the first 3 minutes of apnea, then more slowly. Although the mean value was above 100 mmHg at 10 minutes, there was considerable inter-animal variability. Before apnea, PAO2-PaO2 was slightly, but not significantly, larger in horses than in ponies and incr...
Green P, Tong JM.Although wood chewing by horses is recognised as a common vice, there are few reports of specific disease associated with the habit. Two cases of acute obstruction of the small intestine by solid aggregations of wood splinters are described in horses which were both habitual wood chewers. Details are presented of the clinical findings in these cases, including the surgical treatment of acute colic. Both horses returned to full working fitness. The authors review the syndrome of enterolithiasis in horses, and discuss the causes and significance of wood chewing as a stable vice.
Ragle CA.The ventral abdominal approach for laparoscopy is versatile. Reported techniques using a ventral approach in the mare include bilateral ovariectomy and granulosa cell tumor removal. Laparoscopic ovariectomy is performed by way of four instrument portals in the caudoventral aspect of the insufflated abdomen. The procedure has several advantages over the traditional approaches of colpotomy and celiotomy, including tension-free closure of all incisions and minimal invasiveness.
Robert MP, Gangl MC, Lepage OM.A 7-year-old mare presented with facial deformities associated with oral discomfort and weight loss was found to have bilateral, palatal, developmental displacements of the maxillary 08s, with secondary diastema. Following repulsion of both displaced teeth, the horse regained weight and resumed training. Bony deformities remained visible 9 mo after discharge. Une jument de 7 ans présentée avec des déformations faciales associées à de l’inconfort oral et à une perte de poids a montré, après examen, des déplacements développementaux, bilatéraux, du coté palatal des 4 prémolaires ...
Hand DR, Watkins JP, Honnas CM, Kemper D.To determine outcome of horses with osteomyelitis of the sustentaculum tali (ST), with or without associated tarsal sheath tenosynovitis, following surgical debridement and lavage. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 10 horses in which a diagnosis of osteomyelitis of the ST had been made on the basis of history, physical examination findings, and results of radiography. Methods: Information on results of diagnostic testing, surgical findings, postoperative treatment, and short-term outcome was obtained from the medical records. Long-term follow-up information was obtained through reevaluati...