Intra-articular treatment with triamcinolone compared with triamcinolone with hyaluronate: A randomised open-label multicentre clinical trial in 80 lame horses.

The research paper assesses the effectiveness of corticosteroids alone versus corticosteroids with hyaluronate in treating joint disease in horses. The study suggests that corticosteroids alone are more effective in the short term, with half the horses reverting to their previous exercise levels after three months, regardless of the treatment combination received.

Objective and Methodology

• The objective of the study was to compare the clinical effectiveness of intra-articular (IA) treatment using triamcinolone acetonide (TA) alone versus TA combined with hyaluronate (HA) in horses with joint disease.
• This was a multicentre, open label clinical trial with a prospective, randomised and parallel design. Eighty horses from 13 different clinics participated.
• After assessing the initial lameness and joint fluid swelling (effusion) scores, the horses received IA treatment. Three weeks later the assessments were repeated to evaluate the treatment’s effectiveness.
• A standardized telephone questionnaire was also conducted three months after the treatment between the vet and the horse owner.
• The success rate of the treatments, the primary outcome parameter, was determined by a reduction in lameness by two or more grades on a 0-5 scale, three weeks post-treatment.

Results

• The research found that horses receiving the corticosteroid treatment alone (TA) exhibited an 87.8% success rate three weeks after injection, whereas the combination treatment of TA and HA had a 64.1% success rate.
• The study also indicated that horses aged older than 13 years responded less effectively to the combination treatment.
• Three months after the treatment, only 50% of the horses in each group had returned to their prior level of performance.

Conclusions

• The findings suggest that the combination of TA and HA for IA treatment is associated with a lower short-term clinical success rate than TA alone.
• However, the long-term results were similar for both treatments, as only half of the horses returned to their previous exercise levels after three months, regardless of the treatment received.
• Therefore, this study highlights the need for an improved treatment approach or continued research into better treatment options for joint disease in horses.