Efficacy of orally administered gabapentin in horses with chronic thoracic limb lameness.
Abstract: To evaluate the analgesic effects of orally administered gabapentin on horses with chronic thoracic limb lameness. Methods: Randomized, crossover design. Methods: A total of 14 adult horses with chronic thoracic limb lameness. Methods: Following baseline measurement of lameness, horses were administered each of four treatments orally in grain: treatment G, gabapentin (20 mg kg) twice daily for 13 doses; treatment F, firocoxib (171 mg once, then 57 mg once daily for six doses); treatment GF, gabapentin and firocoxib at previously stated doses and frequencies; or treatment C, grain only as a control. Treatments were administered in a randomized, crossover design, separated by 2 weeks. Subjective lameness score (SLS), inertial sensor vector sum (VS) calculations, peak vertical ground reaction force (PVGRF) measurements and vertical impulse (VI) calculations were determined immediately prior to each initial treatment dose and 2-4 hours after the final treatment dose for each treatment. Mean change in SLS, VS, PVGRF and VI for each treatment were compared among treatments. Results: The rank change in SLS of treatment GF was significantly greater than that of treatments C (p = 0.01) and G (p = 0.01) but not of treatment F (p = 0.08). No differences in VS (p = 0.4), PVGRF (p = 0.4) or VI (p = 0.1) were observed among treatments. Conclusions: Gabapentin, as administered here, did not improve subjective or objective measures of lameness in horses with chronic thoracic limb musculoskeletal pain. Although subjective evaluation identified an improvement in lameness with treatment GF, it was not different from that observed with treatment F. Higher oral dosing and longer treatment regimens of gabapentin may be indicated for the treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain in horses.
Copyright © 2019 Association of Veterinary Anaesthetists and American College of Veterinary Anesthesia and Analgesia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Publication Date: 2019-12-04 PubMed ID: 31980368DOI: 10.1016/j.vaa.2019.11.003Google Scholar: Lookup The Equine Research Bank provides access to a large database of publicly available scientific literature. Inclusion in the Research Bank does not imply endorsement of study methods or findings by Mad Barn.
- Journal Article
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Veterinary
Summary
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The research investigates the effectiveness of gabapentin, an analgesic drug, in dealing with chronic thoracic limb lameness in horses. The paper concludes that whilst gabapentin had no significant effect, a combined treatment of gabapentin and firocoxib showed marked improvement.
Study Design
- The study was set up as a randomized, crossover experiment involving 14 adult horses suffering from chronic thoracic limb lameness.
- Baseline measurements of the lameness in each horse were taken before beginning treatment.
- The horses were divided into four groups, each receiving a different type of treatment, which was administered orally along with grain.
- Treatment “G” involved administering gabapentin, while Treatment “F” involved firocoxib. In Treatment “GF”, a combination of both gabapentin and firocoxib were administered, while the control group, Treatment “C”, was given grain only. Treatments were separated by two weeks.
Assessment Methods
- Assessments of each horse’s condition were done before the first dose and between 2-4 hours after the final dose of each treatment.
- A subjective lameness score (SLS), inertial sensor vector sum (VS), peak vertical ground reaction force (PVGRF) measurements, and vertical impulse (VI) calculations were obtained from these assessments.
- The differences in SLS, VS, PVGRF, and VI for each treatment were compared among treatments.
Results
- Analysis showed that the improvement in SLS with Treatment GF was significantly greater than that with Treatment C or G, but not with Treatment F.
- No significant differences were found in VS, PVGRF, or VI measurements across treatments.
Conclusion
- The study concludes that orally administered gabapentin, as used in this study, did not improve lameness in horses with chronic thoracic limb musculoskeletal pain.
- While the combined treatment of gabapentin and firocoxib showed improvement in lameness the effect was not different to that observed with firocoxib alone.
- The authors suggest the possibility of needing higher oral doses or longer treatment durations of gabapentin for treating chronic musculoskeletal pain in horses.
Cite This Article
APA
Young JM, Schoonover MJ, Kembel SL, Taylor JD, Bauck AG, Gilliam LL.
(2019).
Efficacy of orally administered gabapentin in horses with chronic thoracic limb lameness.
Vet Anaesth Analg, 47(2), 259-266.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.vaa.2019.11.003 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA. Electronic address: mjsdvm@gmail.com.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
- Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
MeSH Terms
- 4-Butyrolactone / administration & dosage
- 4-Butyrolactone / analogs & derivatives
- 4-Butyrolactone / therapeutic use
- Analgesics / therapeutic use
- Animals
- Chronic Disease
- Cross-Over Studies
- Drug Therapy, Combination
- Female
- Gabapentin / therapeutic use
- Horse Diseases / drug therapy
- Horses
- Lameness, Animal / drug therapy
- Male
- Sulfones / administration & dosage
- Sulfones / therapeutic use
Citations
This article has been cited 5 times.- Fadel C, Giorgi M. Synopsis of the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, applications, and safety of firocoxib in horses. Vet Anim Sci 2023 Mar;19:100286.
- Gold JR, Grubb TL, Cox S, Malavasi L, Villarino NL. Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of repeat dosing of gabapentin in adult horses. J Vet Intern Med 2022 Mar;36(2):792-797.
- Amari M, Brioschi FA, Auletta L, Ravasio G. Ultrasound-Guided Radiofrequency Ablation and Pulsed Radiofrequency Treatment for Chronic Lameness Due to Distal Forelimb Disease in Horses: A Pilot Study. Animals (Basel) 2025 Aug 10;15(16).
- Hyndman TH, Bowden RS, Woodward AP, Pang DSJ, Hampton JO. Uncontrolled pain: a call for better study design. Front Vet Sci 2024;11:1328098.
- Di Cesare F, Negro V, Ravasio G, Villa R, Draghi S, Cagnardi P. Gabapentin: Clinical Use and Pharmacokinetics in Dogs, Cats, and Horses. Animals (Basel) 2023 Jun 20;13(12).
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