Cortisone injections linked to Lami??

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Pixxie

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I am posting this on behalf of a friend as her horse is due to have cortisone injections and shes been looking it up and has seen that there might be links to lami with it and was wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experiences of this

Thanks in advance :)
 
Pixxie said:
I am posting this on behalf of a friend as her horse is due to have cortisone injections and shes been looking it up and has seen that there might be links to lami with it and was wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experiences of this

Thanks in advance :)
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Yes this is why it is standard procedure following joint medication (i.e. hocks injected for bone spavin) with a steroid injection for a horse to be stabled for 48 hours following treatment to prevent laminitis from occuring.
 
Please take great care. A mare I once owned had a stubborn cough for which the Vet gave Steroids. He made no mention of any risks at all. Just 2 days later she had lamintis, I rang the Vet who blithly said 'Oh that's the steroids' The laminitis was severe & eventually was the end of her. I would rather have had the cough, she was beautiful & talented. She could have had a foal with just a cough to worry about.
 
Pixxie said:
I am posting this on behalf of a friend as her horse is due to have cortisone injections and shes been looking it up and has seen that there might be links to lami with it and was wondering if anyone has any knowledge or experiences of this

Thanks in advance :)
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Yes, that's why we did the IRAP with Hen as he had already had a mild case of it. Message me details x
 
Yes, my vet has warned me about this & if I ever had to make a choice I'd avoid it like the plague.

Be cautious, very cautious. Having had my old boy with laminitus (not cortisone injection induced) it really is the very last thing you want to have to deal with and I think ANYTHING would be preferable to having a laminitic on your hands.
 
Cortisones are a steroid. Steroids can initiate Laminitis. Had exactly the same experience with Steroids - they caused laminitis on one of my horses.
 
One of mine has been on very large doses of Prednisolone (corticosteroid) for almost a year. My vets advised that although laminitis does occur after injection, there hasn't been a documented case after oral administration.
I declined injections for her, but give her pills orally instead.
S :D
 
Yes my lad currently has laminitis following a cortisone injection into his sacroiliac region, he is only a 7yr old I am gutted. No warning was given from equine hospital! My advice ask a lot of questions before going ahead know if your horse is at risk before making an informed decision.
 
Interesting thread this - I had a horse injected with steroids for a severe sweet itch problem(new horse so didnt know for sure he had SI) about 6 weeks ago - now with SI rug etc. etc. he is fine. Vet did warn me of the risks of lammi but seemed to think it was only an issue in a horse that had already suffered from lammi in the past. From what some of you are saying this doesn't seem to be the case?

And can anyone tell me for how long after the steroid injection the risk still exists? Must confess I am being ultra paranoid about grazing etc. just in case - but does the risk exist for days, weeks or months does anyone know?:confused:
 
My boy had an injection in his fetlock at the beggining of this year, the vet did warn me that there was a slight risk, but the benefits far out weighed the risks. My friend, on the other hand, had her horse injected and he got lammi. Luckily it wasn't very severe and he recovered well.
 
My mare is prone to laminitis and needed joint injections in her hocks and fetlocks for arthritis last autumn. My vet discussed the benefits and risks with me but we decided that for her quality of life (with the injections, back to full quality of life, jumping, competing at low level, some xc, everything she was doing before, without them just quiet hacking on bute) it was worth the risk to go ahead.
I had to keep her in for 48 hours, soak her hay and the vet monitored her carefully afterwards for the next couple of days for any signs of laminitis (I am paranoid anyway) but in the end it was fine.
 
My mare had a Cortisone injection as she has a kissing spine, the vet did make me aware and she was stabled for 2 days but my mare didn't have any problems at all and if necessary I would have another cortisone injection.
 
Our lad developed excessive thirst and urination following a steroid injection into his coffin joint. He was 9 and had never had lammi. The vet said it was a side effect of the steroids causing a cushings type reaction which could be a precursor of laminitis - he advised never to give him steroids again. It happened after a day or so post injection and lasted about 3 days. He was drinking buckets and buckets of water and his wee was literally running out of the stable door each morning!
 
Shilasdair said:
One of mine has been on very large doses of Prednisolone (corticosteroid) for almost a year. My vets advised that although laminitis does occur after injection, there hasn't been a documented case after oral administration.
I declined injections for her, but give her pills orally instead.
S :D
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This is interesting, do you mind me asking what your mare was on corticosteroids for?
 
My OH's horse had a cortisone injection for strange lumps on his body and next day had lami. Within three days of having it he had dropped through his soles and was bleeding. :( We had a fab farrier at that time who whacked plastic shoes on almost daily (as he kept pulling them off) and box rest. This was years ago and they now compete at Grand Prix dressage, so they can come back. :) But would strongly advise NOT to have a cortisone injection unless absolutely necessary. We wont have it now and find another way.
 
Please be very careful, a friends horse developed laminitis after having a cortisone injecion straight into the coffin joint as she was 1/10 lame. This developed into full blown laminitis, to the point where the pedal bone actually came through the foot, and the horse was put down.
 
One of mine went down with lami from a large dose of steroid (dexamethasone variety)

Applecart - shutting them in won't stop it, as due to being injected you cannot get it out of their system

I would not have one injected again due to this anguish and would enquire about the oral route, as you can stop this
 
Hattie had a cortisone (Adcortyl) injection near her withers due to bursitis about Easter time this year. The vet did warn me about lami and if she had any history of it. He never told me about stabling for 48 hours though. I just kept her outside as I usually do, but put a grazing muzzle on her to stop her from gorging on grass just in case.
 
grumpyoldmare said:
Vet did warn me of the risks of lammi but seemed to think it was only an issue in a horse that had already suffered from lammi in the past. And can anyone tell me for how long after the steroid injection the risk still exists? :confused:
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My vet said there was a slight risk. My horse is colic prone so I don't like putting him on box rest unless there is absolutely no choice as getting him out afterwards is always a nightmare as his hours out at grass have to be built up again. However my vet presumably thought there was more of a risk with laminitis than him getting colic I guess.

I'm guessing the risk is diminished after a 48 hour window as most cases of joint medication require box rest for 48 hours unless I am mistaken. This certainly seems to be the case as far as the people who've had this procedure done with their horses have told me.
 
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