Looking for new ways to manage joint disease in horses? According to one researcher, there’s no need to throw the baby out with the bath water–a mix of traditional options with new therapeutic methods could be what’s needed.

"Traditional corticosteroids remain a mainstay in the treatment of joint-related lameness in horses," relayed David Frisbie, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, from Colorado State University’s Gail Holmes Equine Orthopaedic Research Center, at the 12th Congress of the World Equine Veterinary Association, held Nov. 2-6, 2011, in Hyderabad, India.

Vetalog (triamcinolone acteonide) and Celestone (betamethasone esters) are appropriate and common injection choices despite the concern regarding inducing laminitis with repeated us of intra-articular corticosteroids.

According to one study Frisbie cited, only three out of 2,000 horses evaluated developed laminitis after an intra-articular injection with corticosteroids, and two of those were ponies with a history of laminitis

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