Efficacy of omeprazole paste in the prevention of gastric ulcers in 2 years old Thoroughbreds.

The research article observes the effectiveness of omeprazole paste in preventing gastric ulcers in 2-year-old Thoroughbreds, finding that horses treated with omeprazole were significantly less likely to develop gastric ulcers.

Investigation of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome

• The prevalence of equine gastric ulcer syndrome in 85 young Thoroughbreds was tested in this study. It was determined by the means of an endoscopic examination that 27.1% of these horses already had gastric ulcers.

Treatment and Control Groups

• Of the remaining 62 horses without gastric ulcers, they were randomly divided into two groups; a treated group and a sham-dosed control group, each consisting of 31 horses.
• The treatment group received doses of omeprazole oral paste – a commonly used drug in human medicine for treating gastric ulcers. The control group, on the other hand, did not receive the omeprazole treatment.

Post-Administration Examination

• After 28 days of receiving the given treatments, a second endoscopic examination was performed on the horses in both groups.
• In the proteced group, only one horse developed gastric ulcers during the trial period, suggesting a highly successful prevention rate with the use of omeprazole oral paste.
• In contrast, 12 horses from the control group developed gastric ulcers, indicating a lack of gastric ulcer prevention in the absence of omeprazole treatment.

Conclusion of the study

• Based on this significant difference in gastric ulcer development between the two groups, the study concluded that the use of omeprazole oral paste could effectively prevent the occurrence of gastric ulcers in young Thoroughbreds during their training period.