LAMINITIS
An EvidenceBased Look at
Multimodal Laminitis Treatments B
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It would be a bit of an understatement to say that pain manage-
ment in the laminitic horse is challenging. Between the types of pain and the dearth of evidence on the multitude of treatment options, clinicians often find themselves in the weeds. In addition to therapeutic shoeing and hoof support, multimodal treatment typically gives a patient their best shot at recovery. But which ones to try? And what about the evidence? To help firm up the veterinarian’s armamentarium, Katherine Ellis, DVM, a clinician in equine sports medicine rehabilitation at the University of Georgia, recently described several pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical modalities in a virtual presentation at the 66th AAEP Annual Convention.
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Issue 3/2021 | ModernEquineVet.com
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CASE #1: Too Much of a Good Thing
Dr. Ellis described a 14-year-old Quarter Horse gelding that managed to make his way into the feed room and ate half of a bag of sweet feed within 24 hours. The horse had an acute AAEP grade 4 lameness in both forelimbs and moderately increased digital pulses. “For this horse, you might consider an NSAID, digital hypothermia and vasodilators, such as pentoxifylline and acepromazine, which do not have direct analgesic effects,” she said. Anecdotally, many clinicians regard phenylbutazone as the most efficacious and consistent nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID), but several studies offer alternatives. “Although they may not have evaluated laminitic horses, other studies have shown that other NSAIDs may be as effective as
