Quantitative comparison of three commonly used treatments for navicular syndrome in horses.
Abstract: To quantitatively compare 3 commonly used treatments for navicular syndrome (NS) in horses: heel-elevation shoeing alone, heel-elevation shoeing and phenylbutazone administration, heel-elevation shoeing and injection of the distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) with triamcinolone acetonide (TA), and all 3 treatments in combination. Methods: 12 horses with NS. Methods: A force plate was used to measure baseline peak vertical ground reaction force (PVGRF) of the forelimbs. Each horse's forelimbs were shod with 3 degrees heel-elevation horseshoes; PVGRF was measured 24 hours and 14 days after shoeing. Fourteen days after shoeing (following data collection), phenylbutazone (4.4 mg/kg, i.v., q 12 h) was administered (5 treatments). Two hours after the fifth treatment, PVGRF was measured; TA (6 mg) was injected into the DIPJ of the forelimb that generated the lower baseline PVGRF Fourteen days later, PVGRF was measured. Phenylbutazone was administered as before, and PVGRF was measured. Percentage body weight of force (%BWF) was calculated from PVGRF measurements and used for comparisons. Results: 14 days after shoeing, mean %BWF in both forelimbs significantly increased from baseline; additional administration of phenylbutazone significantly increased %BWF applied from the more lame forelimb. Compared with shoeing alone, there was no significant change in %BWF after injection of the DIPJ with TA in shod horses. Conclusions: Heel-elevation shoeing alone and in combination with phenylbutazone administration quantitatively decreased lameness in horses with NS. Although not significant, additional DIPJ injection with TA resulted in further quantitative decrease in lameness, compared with that achieved via shoeing alone.
Publication Date: 2005-08-23 PubMed ID: 16111165DOI: 10.2460/ajvr.2005.66.1247Google Scholar: Lookup
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- Clinical Trial
- Journal Article
Summary
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This research study compares the effectiveness of three popular treatments for navicular syndrome in horses: heel-elevation shoeing alone, the same shoeing combined with phenylbutazone administration, and with injection of the distal interphalangeal joint (DIPJ) with triamcinolone acetonide (TA). The study concluded that heel-elevation shoeing alone and in combination with phenylbutazone administration significantly reduced lameness.
Methodology
- Twelve horses diagnosed with navicular syndrome were included in the study.
- A force plate was used to measure the initial peak vertical ground reaction force (PVGRF) exerted by the horse’s forelimbs.
- Each horse was fitted with 3 degree heel-elevation shoes, and the resulting PVGRF was measured 24 hours and 14 days after the shoeing.
- Phenylbutazone was then administered to the horses and the PVGRF factor was measured again.
- In the next step, triamcinolone acetonide (TA) was injected into the forelimb that had lower baseline PVGRF.
- Two weeks after this injection, the PVGRF was measured, and the process with phenylbutazone administration was repeated.
Results
- Fourteen days after the heel-elevation shoeing, the force applied by both forelimbs of the horse increased significantly from the baseline measurement.
- The injection of phenylbutazone increased the force applied by the more affected limb.
- Comparing the %BWF after the DIPJ injection with TA, there was no significant change noted in combination with the shoeing process.
Conclusions
- The heel-elevation shoeing, both alone and combined with the administration of phenylbutazone, substantially reduced lameness in horses suffering from navicular syndrome.
- Although not deemed significant, an additional decrease in lameness was noted with the injection of TA in combination with the shoeing procedure.
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Cite This Article
APA
Schoonover MJ, Jann HW, Blaik MA.
(2005).
Quantitative comparison of three commonly used treatments for navicular syndrome in horses.
Am J Vet Res, 66(7), 1247-1251.
https://doi.org/10.2460/ajvr.2005.66.1247 Publication
Researcher Affiliations
- Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, USA.
MeSH Terms
- Animals
- Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use
- Biomechanical Phenomena
- Combined Modality Therapy / veterinary
- Female
- Foot Diseases / therapy
- Foot Diseases / veterinary
- Forelimb
- Glucocorticoids / therapeutic use
- Horse Diseases / drug therapy
- Horse Diseases / therapy
- Horses
- Lameness, Animal / drug therapy
- Lameness, Animal / therapy
- Male
- Phenylbutazone / therapeutic use
- Shoes
- Triamcinolone Acetonide / therapeutic use
Citations
This article has been cited 6 times.- Taguchi T, Morales Yniguez FJ, Takawira C, Andrews FM, Lopez MJ. Agmatine Administration Effects on Equine Gastric Ulceration and Lameness. J Clin Med 2022 Dec 8;11(24).
- Rizwan M, Selvanathan V, Rasool A, Qureshi MAUR, Iqbal DN, Kanwal Q, Shafqat SS, Rasheed T, Bilal M. Metal-Organic Framework-Based Composites for the Detection and Monitoring of Pharmaceutical Compounds in Biological and Environmental Matrices. Water Air Soil Pollut 2022;233(12):493.
- Sanigavatee K, Poochipakorn C, Charoenchanikran P, Joongpan W, Chanda M. Z-Bar Shoeing Demonstrates Potential for Long-Term Foot Pain Management during an Exercise Training Regimen in a Show Jumping Pony with Uniaxial Palmar Pain. Case Rep Vet Med 2022;2022:8468403.
- Chanda M, Puangthong C, Pathomsakulwong W, Apichaimongkonkun T, Leklub J. Modified Z-bar shoe eliminates occasional frog bruising accompanying Z-bar shoeing for navicular syndrome management in underrun-heeled horses. J Equine Sci 2021 Jun;32(2):55-60.
- Robinson KA, Manning ST. Efficacy of a single-formula acupuncture treatment for horses with palmar heel pain. Can Vet J 2015 Dec;56(12):1257-60.
- Larsen EA, Williams MR, Schoonover MJ, Jurek KA, Young JM, Duddy HR. Navicular bone fracture and severe deep digital flexor tendinopathy after palmar digital neurectomy in two horses. Open Vet J 2023 Dec;13(12):1752-1759.
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