If you spray a respiratory medication into a horse’s throat, where does it go? Does it end up where it needs to be for effective treatment, or are you just wasting meds and money?

Veterinarians routinely administer topical laryngeal and pharyngeal medications when treating upper airway disease in horses. However, no studies have ever been done to determine the distribution of this throat spray.

So researchers from Colorado State University (CSU) evaluated two throat spray techniques, and Aimee Colbath, VMD, resident in equine surgery and lameness at CSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital, presented their results at the 2014 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 6-10 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Veterinarians use throat sprays to treat a variety of upper airway issues in horses, including airway inflammation, nasopharyngeal cicatrix (scar tissue), lymphoid hyperplasia (an inflammatory condition of the throat), and arytenoid chondritis (inflammation of the arytenoid cartilage). The most common administration method is via nasopharyngeal catheter. Horses that aren’t amenable to this method receive the spray directly through their mouth, said Colbath