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Retrospective study of the effect of intra‐articular treatment of osteoarthritis of the distal tarsal joints in 51 horses
Author(s) -
Labens R.,
Voûte L. C.,
Mellor D. J.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
veterinary record
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 99
eISSN - 2042-7670
pISSN - 0042-4900
DOI - 10.1136/vr.161.18.611
Subject(s) - lameness , osteoarthritis , medicine , horse , tarsal joint , triamcinolone acetonide , tarsometatarsal joints , methylprednisolone , methylprednisolone acetate , surgery , arthrodesis , stifle joint , radiography , cruciate ligament , pathology , anterior cruciate ligament , biology , paleontology , alternative medicine
Osteoarthritis of the distal tarsal joints, affecting the centrodistal and tarsometatarsal joints, is a common cause of hindlimb lameness in horses. This paper describes the outcome of the intra‐articular treatment of 51 horses with the condition with either methylprednisolone acetate ( mpa ) or triamcinolone acetonide ( tr ), either with or without hyaluronic acid ( ha ). The outcome was assessed in terms of the changes in the horses' grade of lameness. Follow‐up information was obtained from the owners by means of a telephone questionnaire. Horses treated once with mpa or tr , either with or without ha , improved after a median of 56 days (P<0·0001), and there was no significant difference between mpa and tr . There was no significant further improvement in the horses treated twice. In the horses in which there was a diffuse increase in the uptake of a radiopharmaceutical by the distal tarsal joints, identified by scintigraphy, the lameness tended to improve (P=0·032), whereas in the horses in which the uptake was focal, it did not. At telephone follow‐up 13 of 34 horses were reported to have had a positive outcome, but the outcome in the other 21 was reported to have been negative.