The latest Horse Course from the University of Kentucky’s Veterinary (UK) Diagnostic Laboratory and Gluck Equine Research Center (presented by Pfizer Animal Health) is now available for viewing on TheHorse.com.

The presentation, "Treating Upper Respiratory Diseases," was led by Laurent Couëtil, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, associate professor of large animal medicine and director of the Equine Sports Medicine Center at Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine. Couëtil discussed evidence-based approaches to treating airway disease in horses such as heaves (recurrent airway obstruction, or RAO) and inflammatory airway disease (IAD).

"The prognosis (for RAO versus IAD horses) is quite different, of course," Couëtil said. "An IAD-diagnosed case is certainly a much better prognosis than the RAO.

"What I wanted to discuss is the … different therapies and what is the evidence for those therapies," he continued. "And when we talk about evidence-based medicine, we’re talking about systematically reviewing the evidence, evaluating it critically, and using the best evidence that’s available. And that allows you to make a critical decision (about) what’s the best treatment