Junior, a 4 year old Warmblood gelding, bred to perform dressage, presented with a progressive left forelimb lameness. Clinical signs were noticed towards the later stages of his first season competing.
Examination:
Investigations revealed the lameness was emanating from the left intercarpal joint, which was swollen and reactive to flexion. Radiographs were obtained of both carpi with diagnostic evidence of osteoarthritic changes present within the intercarpal joint. There was an irregular outline to the dorsal aspect of the radiocarpal bone (green arrow), irregular sharp lucent modelling of the dorsodistal aspect of the radiocarpal bone (yellow arrow) and moderate sclerosis of the dorsal and dorsodistal aspects of the radiocarpal bone (blue arrow).
Treatment and Outcome:
2ml of ArthramidVet® was injected into the left intercarpal joint followed by a period of light exercise on a water treadmill for two weeks before resuming full training. Clinically, the lameness reduced significantly and by four weeks post-injection was no longer present and could not be measured using an inertial sensor detection system. Junior has successfully competed for a further two years without recurrence of lameness.
