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  Discussion on IRAP for joint problems
Author Message
New Member:
mokuchta

Posted on Monday, Sep 1, 2008 - 11:48 pm:

Finn my 12 year old gelding has recently been diagnosed with arthritis in both hocks, left fetlock and left ankle. He started wearing the inside of his hind feet, showing more lameness to the left, and hind end muscle soreness. It's not clear if one or all the joints with radiographic changes are the problem. (These joints also showed lameness on flexion tests.)The vet feels the ankle is the worst but felt Legend would help all locations. Anyway Finn is on Legend and turned out at this time.

Here is my question. Please correct me if I am interpreting this information wrong. It seems as if Adequan and Legend injections can diminish pain but not improve the cartilage or joint and have only a short term effect. From what I have read IRAP may be able to improve the condition of the joint or at least slow down arthritic changes long term. I'm looking at spending a lot of money on Legend IV's for a horse that (hopefully) will live for years. Is IRAP something I should be asking my vet about? Is there enough data to judge whether this is a better long term choice?
Thanks!
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Sep 3, 2008 - 10:59 am:

Welcome Maureen,
First as to your impressions on Adequan and Legend. Both of these products do improve the joint environment particularly when injected directly in the joint. We have articles on both of these where you can read more about these effects and other therapy at Treatments and Medications for Horses ยป Anti-inflammatories (Nsaids, Steroids, Arthritis Rx).

The question about how long the effects are of IRAP in osteoarthritis and compared to more traditional therapy is it a much better choice is not known. We have had a member who was very pleased with the results of an IRAP therapy. Currently IRAP is recommended for those horses that do not respond well to traditional treatment such as the ones you mention, Nsaids and intraarticular steroids. Currently in the works is an article explaining exactly what IRAP is and what we know about it and should be up in the next week.

As to the questions of which joints are causing the lameness intraarticular anesthesia will answer this question fairly conclusively.
DrO
New Member:
mokuchta

Posted on Thursday, Sep 4, 2008 - 11:15 am:

Thank you.I'm jumping ahead of myself with the IRAP thing anyway.I didn't want to be too long winded before but there's more to the story. The reason my vet did a full lameness workup is that Finn's movement changed suddenly and he seemed uncomfortable. He wasn't obviously lame but didn't improve with work as he usually does. It turns out he also has a problem with the outside branch of his LH suspensory ligament. The vet said to give him a month off so I was more concerned about his arthritis than the suspensory. The vet checked him out yesterday and there has been no improvement. So I guess this is the bigger problem right now. I now need to restrict Finn to a 30x30'area by himself for the next month.If I can't keep him quiet he'll have to have stall rest. The horse is a cribber who is normally turned out 24/7 with an in and out stall and pasture. I'm not looking forward to restricting this horse but it needs to be done. I read your articles on ligaments and rehab as well as the one on stall rest. I guess we're in for the long haul and if he does recover fully, it will be slow. My vet has done radiographs on the ankle and fetlock in this area and there is some arthritis. He has not done ultrasound but when you flex the ankle Finn is sensitive when you increase pressure on the ligament. He is not sensitive on the RH ligament. The vet is planning on doing ultrasound next month. He didn't diagnose the ligament by blocking it or by ultrasound but there is clearly some tenderness there.
Maureen
New Member:
mcharles

Posted on Thursday, Jul 9, 2009 - 10:36 pm:

My Yearling mare got OCD surgery today and the surgeon suggests that we proceed with Irap injections. Would that be beneficial and what will it do for her.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Saturday, Jul 11, 2009 - 7:04 am:

MC, without examining your horse we cannot say if this may or may not help your horse. I am sure the surgeon feels the treatment may help ameliorate any DJD in the joint as to whether this is in fact true is uncertain but early work is promising and what is known explained in the article on IRAP.
DrO
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