Multicentre, controlled, randomised and blinded field study comparing efficacy of suxibuzone and phenylbutazone in lame horses.

This research paper compares the efficacy and acceptability of two drugs, suxibuzone (SBZ) and phenylbutazone (PBZ), in treating lameness in horses. The results show that there’s no significant difference in alleviating lameness, although SBZ is more acceptable when administered orally with some food.

Objective and Methodology

• The primary aim of the study was to compare the therapeutic effect of SBZ to that of PBZ when administered orally to horses experiencing lameness. The researcher also compared the acceptability of both products.
• The study was a multicentre, controlled, randomised, and double-blinded clinical trial that involved 155 lame horses. Horses were treated orally with either SBZ or PBZ at equivalent therapeutic dosages.
• The clinician evaluated the effectiveness of the treatments by keeping track of the progression of lameness in the horses throughout the course of the study.
• Both drugs were administered at specific, controlled doses: PBZ was provided to 79 horses at doses of 4.4 mg/kg body weight every 12 hours for two days; then 2.2 mg/kg body weight every 12 hours for six days. SBZ was given to 76 horses at a dose of 6.6 mg/kg body weight every 12 hours for two days; followed by 3.3 mg/kg body weight every 12 hours for six days.
• Product ingestion was checked daily to evaluate product acceptability.

Research Findings

• Initial results showed a statistically significant leaning toward SBZ having better efficacy than PBZ (Odds ratio = 2.7; P = 0.016). However, when the analysis was adjusted to account for some imbalanced baseline covariates, the advantage of SBZ over PBZ was found to be not significant.
• Product acceptability was significantly higher in the SBZ group than in the PBZ group (96.1% vs. 77.2%; P = 0.001).

Conclusions

• The research found no significant differences between SBZ and PBZ in relieving lameness in horses.
• However, horse caretakers found SBZ more acceptable to administer orally with food.
• The study concludes that SBZ can be a good alternative therapeutic option to PBZ in treating lameness in horses due to their comparable efficacy and SBZ’s superior acceptability.