Quantitative assessment of two methods of tiludronate administration for the treatment of lameness caused by navicular syndrome in horses.

The research paper studies the comparison of two administration methods, systemic and intravenous regional limb perfusion (IVRLP), of medicine Tiludronate used for treatment of Navicular Syndrome, a lameness causing condition in horses. While both methods showed effect in potentially reducing lameness, systemic treatment appeared to be more beneficial based on recorded metrics, however no method was able to completely treat all horses to sound health.

Study Purpose and Methodology

• The intent of this study was to examine and compare the impact of two methods of administrating Tiludronate, a drug used to alleviate lameness caused by Navicular Syndrome (NS) in horses.
• 12 horses with bilateral forelimb NS were randomly split into two groups. Six horses were treated with Tiludronate systematically (1 mg/kg) via a jugular vein catheter. The other six were treated with Tiludronate (0.1 mg/kg) via IV regional limb perfusion (IVRLP) technique into each forelimb’s lateral digital vein.
• The effectiveness of treatments was evaluated by measuring the peak vertical ground reaction force (pVGRF) with a force plate and subjective lameness scores (SLSs) before and after treatment. Changes in pVGRFs and SLSs were compared with pre-treatment values to ascertain the treatment effect.

Findings of the Study

• The systemic treatment group showed significant increase in pVGRF for both forelimbs and most lame forelimbs on the 120th and 200th days after treatment. This suggests improved weight-bearing capacity and potential reduction of lameness in these horses due to treatment.
• However, the IVRLP treated group did not show a significant difference in mean pVGRF, indicating that this delivery mechanism did not offer as much improvement in increased weight-bearing capacity or reduction in lameness.
• Neither method showed any significant improvement in SLSs immediately following treatment. A noticeable improvement in the SLSs was only observed on the 120th day after the IVRLP treatment.

Conclusion and Suggestions

• Based on the outcomes of the study, systemic treatment with Tiludronate (1 mg/kg, IV) demonstrated potential benefits for horses suffering from NS. However, neither method fully restored sound health to the horses within the duration of the study.
• The effectiveness and viability of IVRLP with Tiludronate requires further research before it can be definitively recommended as a treatment method for Navicular Syndrome in horses.