Experience of IRAP/Hyaluronic acid/cortisone for arthritis?

[Holly Hocks]

I had the vet out to my horse today after she had a bone chip removed from her fetlock in November when at the time she was diagnosed with arthritis in the fetlock. However they did not expect her to be lame this early on. To be honest, she has never really come sound and after trying physios/roadwork and everything else, I resorted to getting the vet today.

He has nerve blocked the fetlock and said that she was sounder afterwards, although to be honest, I couldn't see it, and when I trotted her round in the school, she looked the same to me, although I suppose if she's been in pain for a while and is used to holding herself a certain way, it might be habit.

Anyway, she is going for x-rays next week to find out whether it is arthritis, or something else. We discussed the options if it is the arthritis that is causing the problem and the options were 1: IRAP therapy 2: Hyaluronic acid injections into the joint 3: Cortisone steroid injections.
I immediately discounted IRAP therapy because a friend's horse had it and had no improvement whatsoever and ended up being PTS and my thoughts were that I would like to try HA injections as a first try, although vet also said that good results could be obtained with the steroid injections as they allow the inflammation in the joint to reduce.
What experiences do you have with the above? With the IRAP, how long do they have to be rested for between treatments? This horse is a fit TB and does not do box rest well. Please can you give me your experience and opinion please.

 

[alsiola]

Steroid injections into the joint are by far the most immediately effective option at reducing inflammation and lameness. They are also the cheapest. The downsides are that the effect is often only temporary (2-3 months), and there is a very small risk of inducing laminitis also. HA injections are often given alongside the steroid, as they have an additional anti-inflammatory effect, and can aid in improving the lubricant quality of joint fluid. The downside of HA is the expense (best part of £200 for the HA alone), and very occasionally it will cause an extremely painful and swollen joint for a few days after injection. This worries vets a lot as these are the same signs seen with an infected joint.
IRAP has the potential to be a much more long term treatment. The disadvantage is that it is not always effective, and is extremely expensive (upwards of £500).
My personal approach is to try a steroid + HA injection in the first instance, and if the effect of this medication wears off extremely quickly then try regenerative therapies such as IRAP later on.

 

[Zuzzie]

Steroid injections are very effective for arthritic joints. My horse has arthritis in his coffin joint and was medicated with steroids for about 18 months. The first injection lasted a good 6 or 8 months but as time went on it became less and less effective. My problem was exacerbated by collateral ligament damage which was not diagnosed until a year after the inital diagnosis. You may find that giving one bute per day will bring your horse sound enough to hack out comfortably.
Just make sure that there is nothing else going on in the foot like ligament damage as cortisone slows down the healing process and is not recommended.

 

[twinkle]

you should ask about cartrophen injections goes into the muscle and covers all the joints this has worked miracles for my mare with arthritis in both hocks she had 1 a week for 4 weeks as a loading dose and then now has one a month but depending on your horse could go much longer some people just have a loading dose once or twice a year.

hope this helps and just to let you no she had it quiet bad so we first tried steriod injections and they didnt touch her so just tried cartrophen as the last thing to try just incase and they worked.

i get it on prescription for £42 from viovet.co.uk

 

[chestnut cob]

Ask your vet about Adequan and Tildren

 

[Holly Hocks]

Thank you everyone. I've also been doing some research on the internet tonight, so I've gained quite a bit of knowledge of the IRAP treatment. It sounds successful in some cases, but after the last 12 months of illness and injury, I'm reluctant to put her through anything too invasive. I've had a look at Tildren and Adequan and I'll be asking about those, but never heard of Cartrophen - back to google again to check that out! Keep the experiences coming.

 

[Harriettie]

My lad had a course of IRAP over the winter, although it was not for arthritis (so I cannot comment on the likely success for you). It was not what I would think of as invasive and I chose it because there was less of a risk to his general health than other treatments, including steroids. There were no side effects at all - the only risk seems to be infection at the site of the injection.
He had three treatments, two weeks apart, and was on box rest with in hand walking, or riding, for (building up to) 20 mins twice a day. The treatment was initiated at Rossdales, but then my own vet took over - I still have the left over serum in my freezer!
It has been 100 % successful, even though he tried to thwart his own recovery by bolting on the road during one of the ridden episodes. He is now sound and fit again and I am about to recommence his BD career.
He had a swollen tendon sheath and it cost £2300, including the initial lameness work up by my vet.
A yard horse has just been diagnosed still lame after IRAP for annular ligament syndrome.
Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[traceyann]

Sadly my horse had all three the only one that worked was irap all five injections