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.
Science (New York, N.Y.)August 25, 1961
Volume 134, Issue 3478 565-566 doi: 10.1126/science.134.3478.565
LOWENTHAL JP, BERMAN S, GROGAN EW.Protection tests in guinea pigs indicate that vaccines prepared from virus propagated in chick embryo cell cultures are as effective as the purified whole chick embryo vaccines which are currently used for human immunization against eastern equine encephalomyelitis.
HETRICK FM, YANCEY FS, HANSEN PA, BYRNE RJ. Four horses inoculated with EEE virus remained asymptomatic following injection but did develop measurable HI and neutralizing antibodies as a result of infection. HI antibodies were detectable earlier than neutralizing antibodies but the levels tended to drop more rapidly. 2. Of 14 horses and ponies having significant levels of neutralizing antibody, 5 to 9 had measurable HI antibody depending on number of units of antigen employed in the test. 3. Sera from 3 clinical cases of EEE were positive on the HI test while only one of these animals had a significant neutralizing antibody level.
Gustafsson K, Tatz AJ, Dahan R, Kelmer G.Case history: Medical records were reviewed of horses (n = 7) undergoing surgery for fracture of one or more facial bones extending into the paranasal sinuses that was repaired primarily within 24 hours of the time of injury using a rotational periosteal flap, between April 2009 and May 2017. A kick from another horse was the cause of the injury of three horses, and one horse was injured when it collided with a tree. The cause of the injury of three horses was unknown.Clinical findings and treatment: Fractures were of the right maxillary bone in two horses, the left maxillary bone in two h...
Schumacher J, Bratton GR, Williams JW.The pudendal and caudal rectal nerves in four male and five female adult crossbred horses were anesthetized with a local solution. The injection site was located at the foramen for the caudal gluteal artery and vein in the sacrosciatic ligament. Twenty milliliters of local anesthetic solution were injected via a 15-cm, 18-gauge needle. Quantitative data on anesthesia were determined from these injections. Dye was injected with the anesthetic in four additional horses so that accurate placement of the solution could be determined at postmortem examination. Satisfactory anesthesia of the anus, p...
O'Connor M.Zoonotic diseases are those which originate in animals but are transmitted to humans often through an intermediate host such as a wild animal. In Australia Hendra virus (HeV) is a disease of horses with occasional human fatalities and which is spread by the fruit bat. This article explores the lessons learnt from managing the Queensland outbreak of HeV in 1994. The legal framework for the notification and management of prohibited matter including zoonotic diseases in Queensland and New South Wales has been strengthened by provisions in the Biosecurity Act 2015 (NSW) which create strong penalti...
Kibler ML, Pendell DL, Costanigro M, Traub-Dargatz J.Equine injury and disease cause two types of costs for those financially responsible for treating and caring for the infected horse(s); direct costs of treating the horse and indirect cost of lost use of the horse for a period of time to the user of the horse (daily horse use). Indirect costs are more difficult to estimate but pose significant financial implications for equine-owners/caregivers. Additionally, there exists a gap in existing research regarding the valuation of infectious treatment options in horses. Objective: To estimate the value a US horse-owner/caregiver places on daily hors...
Mazan MR.The airways are the first part of the pathway in the oxygen transport chain that is critical to excellent athletic performance, and the lower airways are considered the final gatekeeper before oxygen enters the blood and carbon dioxide exits. Horses are blessed with large airways and lungs that allow them to be superb athletes, but the down side of this largesse on the part of evolution is that unless they are truly elite athletes they may withstand noninfectious disease of the lower respiratory tract for months to years before the owner or trainer notices. The two conditions of the lower resp...
Merritt AM, Xie H, Lester GD, Burrow JA, Lorenzo-Figueras M, Mahfoud Z.To evaluate the reliability of a method for inducing colic via small intestinal distention in horses and to examine the analgesic potential of bilateral electroacupuncture (EAP) at the Guan-yuan-shu (similar to BL21) acupoint. Methods: 5 healthy adult horses, each with a gastric cannula. Methods: A polyester balloon connected to an electronic barostat was introduced into the duodenum via the gastric cannula. At 2 specified intervals (before and after commencement of EAP), the balloon was inflated to a barostat-controlled pressure that induced signs of moderate colic. Each inflation was maintai...
McMullen RJ, Gilger BC, Michau TM.To describe a surgical modification of deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty (DLEK) and posterior lamellar keratoplasty (PLK) procedures, to facilitate surgery on standing horses under-sedation. Methods: Four client-owned horses, for which the owners declined surgery under general anesthesia, underwent standing corneal lamellar keratoplasty procedures for the treatment of deep corneal stromal abscesses. Methods: All four horses were placed in stocks and sedated with detomidine. Local eyelid and retrobulbar blocks were performed to provide local analgesia and akinesia, and each horse's head wa...
Palmer SE.Lameness of the Standardbred racehorse is a function of rigorous training programs, year-round racing schedules, hard racetrack surfaces, and the draft load. In this article, principles of lameness diagnosis and treatment are reviewed, with emphasis upon common or unique problems of the trotter and pacer. The role of physical therapy as an adjunct to medical and surgical treatment of lameness is described. Options for management of chronic pain are discussed, and a limited glossary of descriptive terms that are unique to harness racing is provided.
Duggan VE, MacAllister CG, Davis MS.An 18-month-old Quarter Horse filly was evaluated because of dorsal displacement of the soft palate associated with epiglottic dysfunction that caused exercise intolerance and an abnormal respiratory noise. The abnormality of the epiglottis was corrected by use of a sedative dose of xylazine hydrochloride. There was no familial predisposition to hyperkalemic periodic paralysis, which may cause similar laryngopharyngeal signs, and the horse did not respond to administration of acetazolamide. There was no known history of trauma that could have caused neuritis, which has also been suggested as a...
Trout DR, Hornof WJ, O'Brien TR.Radiography and soft tissue- and bone-phase scintigraphy were performed on 14 clinically normal horses and 35 horses in which definite, probable, or possible navicular disease had been diagnosed. The specificity of radiography and scintigraphy in revealing signs of navicular disease were nearly equal; however, the sensitivity of scintigraphy appeared to be greater than that of radiography. The greatest sensitivity and specificity were achieved when the results of radiography and scintigraphy were evaluated together. Differences in sensitivity were greatest when scintigraphy revealed lesions no...
Pham HC, Lasserre B, Tronche P, Couquelet J, Dossou-Gbete V, Palhares de Miranda AL.The effects of 3-dimethylamino 5-(2',6'-dichlorobenzylidene) 6-methyl (4H)-pyridazine (PC 89) on the biosynthesis of PG I2 and TX A2 using horse aorta and horse platelet microsomes as sources of enzymes and arachidonic acid as substrate, were investigated. PC 89 (1.10(-6) M- 1.10(-3) M) dose-dependently - enhanced the biosynthesis of PG I2: the AD50 was 6.8 X 10(-6) M +/- 1.2 X 10(-9) M, the Vmax did not vary significantly with concentrations: PC 89 increased the affinity of enzyme for substrate - but inhibited TX A2 biosynthesis (ID50 = 3.31 X 10(-3) M +/- 4.8 X 10(-7) M): this inhibiting act...
Katzman SA, Spriet MP, Beck BR, Barrett MF, Hendrickson DA.A 6-year-old Quarter Horse gelding used for barrel racing was evaluated for acute onset of non-weight-bearing lameness of the left hind limb following strenuous exercise. Nuclear scintigraphic imaging revealed focal increased radiopharmaceutical uptake centrally within the left talus. Subsequent standard radiographic and ultrasonographic examinations of the tarsus failed to identify the cause of the increased radiopharmaceutical uptake; however, the lameness was definitively localized to the tarsocrural joint by intra-articular anesthesia. Subsequent MRI sequences of the left tarsus revealed a...
Radcliffe RM, Messiaen Y, Irby NL, Divers TJ, Dewey CW, Mitchell KJ, Schnabel LV, Bezuidenhout AJ, Scrivani PV, Ducharme NG.To report a transnasal, endoscopically guided ventral surgical approach for accessing the cranial and caudal segments of the sphenopalatine sinus for mass removal in a horse. Methods: Case report. Methods: Adult horse with acute onset blindness referable to a soft tissue mass within the sphenopalatine sinus. Methods: A 7-year-old Warmblood gelding presented with a history of running into a fence and falling. No neurologic signs were identified at initial examination but acute blindness was noted 3 weeks later. On computed tomography (CT) the sphenopalatine sinus was filled with a large homogen...
Cohen ND, Carey VJ, Donahue JG, Seahorn JL, Brown SE, Riddle TW.To characterize the temporality of dates of breeding and abortion classified as mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) among mares with abortions during early gestation. Methods: 2,314 mares confirmed pregnant at approximately 28 days after breeding from 36 farms in central Kentucky, including 515 mares that had early-term abortions. Methods: Farm veterinarians and managers were interviewed to obtain data for each mare that was known to be pregnant to determine pregnancy status, breeding date, last date known to be pregnant, and date of abortion. Results: Mares bred prior to April 1, 2001, app...
Carmalt JL, Bell CD, Panizzi L, Wolker RR, Lanovaz JL, Bracamonte JL, Wilson DG.To assess the safety and efficacy of alcohol-facilitated ankylosis of the distal intertarsal (DIT) and tarsometatarsal (TMT) joints in horses with osteoarthritis (bone spavin). Methods: Prospective clinical trial. Methods: 21 horses with DIT or TMT joint-associated hind limb lameness and 5 nonlame horses. Methods: 11 horses (group 1) underwent lameness, force-plate, and radiographic examinations; following intra-articular analgesia, lameness and force-plate examinations were repeated. Nonlame horses were used for force-plate data acquisition only. Following localization of lameness to the DIT ...
Modesto RB, Rodgerson DH, Masciarelli AE, Spirito M.This retrospective study describes placement of distal radial transphyseal screws in Thoroughbred yearlings with carpal varus deformities while standing, and identifes short- and long-term complications following the procedure. Data gathered from 2009 to 2013 identified 8 yearlings that met the inclusion criteria. Horses were sedated intravenously and a single 4.5-mm cortical screw was placed in the distal lateral radial physis following application of local anesthetic and surgical preparation of a pre-placed hole. All horses were evaluated weekly after surgery and screw removal was performed ...
Seibert BP, Newcomb KM, Michael BF.Critical tests were done on 24 naturally parasitized horses to compare the antiparasitic activity of an oral paste preparation of mebendazole and trichlorfon with that of the marketed powder formulation. Each formulation was administered at the recommended dosages of 8.8 mg of mebendazole and 40 mg of trichlorfon/kg of body weight. Efficacy of the paste formulation ranged from 97.7% to 100% against 2nd- and 3rd-stage Gasterophilus spp, adult Strongylus vulgaris, S edentatus, Parascaris equorum, small strongyles; and larval and adult forms of Oxyuris equi. Adverse effects were generally limited...
Ryan AD, Gerberich SG, Alexander BH, Renier CM.Working with animals on agricultural operations is hazardous for youths. This study evaluated the associations between activities and injuries related to specific animal types. A case-control study within the Regional Rural Injury Study II included 425 youths (less than 20 years of age) with injuries related to their operation and 1,886 controls (randomly selected youths). Exposures of interest were collected for the months prior to injury events for cases and randomly selected months for controls, based on an injury incidence algorithm. Multivariate logistic regression characterized associati...
Satoh M, Higuchi T, Inoue S, Gotoh T, Murase H, Nambo Y.This is a retrospective study of uterine torsion (UT) in seven mares. In two cases, serum progesterone and estradiol concentrations were also investigated. The mare and foal/fetus survival rate was 57% (4/7). Four cases presented with clockwise torsion, and two cases presented with counterclockwise torsion. The direction was undetermined in one case. The degree of torsion varied. Correction of torsion was performed by ventral midline celiotomy in all cases. In the two cases with measured hormone levels, elevated levels of P were decreased through medication. All mares discharged from the hospi...
Hall NP, Ragle CA, Farnsworth KD, Caffey SR, Sanclemente JL.To describe a technique for basihyoid-ceratohyoid disarticulation (BCD) in standing sedated horses affected by temporohyoid osteoarthropathy (THO) and report outcomes for horses that underwent the procedure. Methods: 6 client-owned horses. Methods: Electronic medical records of a veterinary teaching hospital were searched to identify horses that underwent BCD for treatment of THO from 2018 to 2019. Signalment, clinical data, use of the horse, and complications were recorded. Follow-up data obtained by telephone interview with owners included the clinical outcome and time to improvement after s...
Hofing GL, Bennett DG.Shetland ponies (n = 4) were given diethylcarbamazine orally at a dose level of 22 mg/kg/day for 1 week before they were inoculated with 800 third-stage larvae of Strongylus vulgaris. Treatment was continued for 86 (1 pony) or 200 days (3 ponies) after the inoculation. As compared with the changes seen in a similarly inoculated group of ponies (group 2) which were not treated, diethylcarbamazine did not prevent the clinical or pathologic changes due to the migrating larvae. Fewer adult parasites were recovered at necropsy from treated ponies than from nontreated (group 2) ponies, even when tre...
Salinger A, Mochal-King C, Clinton K, Priddy LB, Elder S, Fontenot R, Eddy A, Wills R, Jaffe M.Frontal plane slab fractures account for the majority of third carpal bone (C3) fractures in racing and performance horses. Recommended treatment is stabilization with a lagged AO cortical screw. Associated complications are fragment splitting, fragment spinning, and irritation of dorsal soft tissue structures. A novel, headless, cannulated screw with interlocking threads the Headless Compression Screw Fastener (HCSF) has been developed to resist multidirectional forces and bending moments; however, it has not been applied in the horse. Simulated C3 frontal plane slab fractures were created in...
Madej A, Kindahl H, Nydahl C, Edqvist LE, Stewart DR.Two mares received PGF-2 alpha twice daily until abortion and 2 mares received a combined treatment with oestradiol benzoate and oxytocin. The mares were about 150 days pregnant. The PG-treated animals aborted after 37 and 61 h, respectively, and the fetuses were expelled in intact fetal membranes. The other 2 mares aborted 13 and 27 h after the first oxytocin injection, respectively, and showed strong uterine contractions and expelled the fetuses in disrupted fetal membranes. Concentrations of 15-ketodihydro-PGF-2 alpha increased both after PG and oxytocin injections and in association with t...
Duvivier DH, Bayly WM, Votion D, Vandenput S, Art T, Farnir F, Lekeux P.The present study evaluated ventilatory, cardiovascular and metabolic parameters during recovery from strenuous exercise in horses suffering from a crisis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and to determine whether ipratropium dry powder inhalation (DPI) before exercise has an effect on these parameters. When 6 saddle horses, affected with COPD, developed airway obstruction, they inhaled placebo and ipratropium (2400 microg/horse), the order being randomly chosen. Pulmonary function tests were then recorded 15 min after inhalation. Following these tests, the horses underwent a str...
Larsen EA, Lack AC, Wassack E.The use of poloxamer 407 gels have been reported in several studies to prolong the release of drugs at the injection site. Oral lesions unrelated to dental disease are rare but may result in ulceration and sequestration of bone. To date, there have been no reports on the use of penicillin G potassium poloxamer 407 gel and its effect on wound healing. The present case report describes the use of a penicillin G potassium poloxamer 407 gel for the treatment of a sublingual abscess involving the mandible in a 20 year old Arabian mare who initially presented with acute onset of dysphagia, hypersali...
Hardee GE, Tshabalala MA, Moore JN, Gokhales RD.Separate high performance liquid chromatographic methods were developed for thiabendazole (TBZ) and 5-hydroxy thiabendazole (5-OH-TBZ) determination in horse plasma using 1-methyl-2-phenyl benzimidazole (MPBZ) as an internal standard. In both methods TBZ and 5-OH-TBZ were extracted from plasma using organic solvents, injected on to a C-18 column, and eluents monitored by a fluorescence detector. However, mobile phase composition, extraction solvent as well as detector wavelength differed in the two methods. The linear range for TBZ was 0.02 to 0.77 microgram ml-1 while that for 5-OH-TBZ was 0....
Gandini M, Giusto G.In jejunocaecal anastomosis leaving a necrotic ileal stump has been implicated in complications and poor outcomes. Elective inversion of the necrotic stump using a nasogastric tube has been previously described, although this procedure can be cumbersome and can cause caecocolic orifice occlusion. Objective: To describe the use of a new device for elective inversion of necrotic ileal stumps. Methods: Case report. Methods: Details of the four horses that underwent intestinal resection and anastomosis with elective inversion of the ileal stump were retrieved from their medical records. For each c...
McCue PM, Troedsson MH, Liu IK, Stabenfeldt GH, Hughes JP, Lasley BL.Thirty-seven seasonally anoestrous mares were divided into treatment and control groups and given 10 micrograms of native GnRH (GnRH) per hour using a peristaltic pump, or 10 micrograms GnRH agonist (GnRHa) twice daily, beginning on either 13 January, 13 February or 14 March. Treatment with GnRH was equally effective in inducing ovulation in January (4/5), February (4/5) and March (3/4). GnRHa treatment was more effective in inducing ovulation in February (4/5) and March (4/4) than in January (2/8). Peak luteinizing hormone (LH) concentrations in mares induced to ovulate with GnRH (7.4 +/- 1.5...
Archer RM, Lindsay WA, Smith DF, Wilson JW.The vasculature of 22 small colons from dead adult ponies was perfused with latex or barium sulphate solution. The vascular anatomy was studied by use of dissection and alkali digestion of the latex specimens and microangiography of the barium sulphate-perfused specimens. The small colon is supplied by the caudal mesenteric artery. The left colic artery arises from the caudal mesenteric artery, which then becomes the cranial rectal artery. Branches from the left colic and cranial rectal arteries form anastomosing arcades that become narrower distally along the length of the small colon. From t...
Kowalski KA, McConnell LA, Sadoff DA, Leid RW.Equine platelets, when treated with the anthelmintic drug diethylcarbamazine (DEC), gave a dose-dependent release of radiolabeled serotonin without concomitant aggregation. At levels of the drug that gave only minimal release of radiolabel, marked dose-dependent inhibition of platelet aggregation to three of four platelet agonists tested--adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, and arachidonic acid--was observed. With ADP, inhibition was observed to be reversed by removal of DEC prior to agonist challenge. However, with collagen, inhibition was only partially reduced by prior removal of DEC; wh...
