When administering equine joint injections, veterinarians must take steps to minimize the risk of septic arthritis developing in the treated joint. Particularly in equine athletes, septic arthritis can be a devastating and debilitating complication, though aggressive treatment returns a large range (27-92%) of affected horses back to work.

Stephen Adams, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, of Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, described appropriate site preparation and needle selection for septic arthritis prevention at the 2012 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ (AAEP) Convention, held Dec. 1-5 in Anaheim, Calif.

“Up to 80% of septic arthritis cases subsequent to joint injections are due to Staph species that, in fact, live on the horse’s skin, as well as the veterinarian’s skin,” Adams remarked. “One can never completely disinfect all layers of all portions of the skin.”

Still, preparing the injection site helps minimize the risk of joint contamination. In previous studies veterinarians have demonstrated that the presence of hair at the injection site does not inhibit antiseptics’ ability to effectively reduce the skin surface bacterial flora to an acceptable level. In other recent studies investigators proved that scrubbing with chlorhexidine was superior to using tamed iodine (Betadine solution)