Laminitis is the second most common cause of death from disease in horses and causes great suffering in the animal and economic and emotional losses for the people involved. Several therapeutic modalities are used in the treatment of this disease, but their results are not consistently described in the literature. In this scenario, deep digital flexor (DDF) tenotomy is a therapeutic modality that can be used for the treatment of chronic laminitis, releasing the traction force that the DDF tendon exerts on the distal phalanx, which helps with realignment of the latter. The objective of this study was to address the important factors of DDF tenotomy and distal phalanx realignment for the treatment of horses with chronic laminitis. The results of the above analysis suggest that DDF tenotomy and realignment of the distal phalanx is a therapeutic option that should be learned by veterinarians and that it can produce benefits to horses with chronic laminitis.

Joint capsule rupture is an uncommon pathology that leads to intense pain, lameness and is related to the athletic performance impossibility of the animal. This pathology presents controversial therapeutic protocols in the equine clinic and surgery. Therefore, this study aimed to report the use of mesenchymal stem cells associated with arthroscopy and rehabilitation to improve the treatment of joint capsule rupture in equine. A three-year-old, male, Quarter Horse, presenting grade 5 lameness, with four months of evolution, was diagnosed with tibiotarsal joint capsule rupture. The patient underwent arthroscopic surgery, received an intra articular application of mesenchymal stem cells, and a rehabilitation protocol was performed. One year after the treatment and rehabilitation, the horse reestablished its athletic performance, thus indicating the success of the therapy using mesenchymal stem cells associated with surgical treatment and rehabilitation.

Background: Guttural pouch empyema in horses is a disease described by the accumulation of purulent/mucopurulent exudate, which with chronification of the disease can become chondroids, affecting horses of any age and not presenting breed predisposition. The main cause of empyema is upper respiratory infection, associated or not with failure in the defense mechanisms, as well as drainage to the guttural pouch of retropharyngeal lymph node abscesses; the main pathogen related to this condition is Streptococcus equi. This paper aims to describes a case of a filly that presented a mucopurulent nasal discharge, five months of evolution, and irresponsive to antibiotic therapy.Case: A 2.5-year-old quarter filly was referred to the veterinary hospital presenting a five months evolution mucopurulent nasal discharge, irresponsive to gentamicin and ceftiofur, and later doxycycline, acetylcysteine and clenbuterol that were instituted on the farm. Throw the endoscopic examination of the upper respiratory tract, was observed the presence of mucopurulent content and chondroids inside the right guttural pouch. This material was collected and sent for culture and antibiogram tests. Streptococcus equi was isolated, and was only sensitive to ceftiofur. The treatment included the guttural pouches flushes with warm saline solution (0.9%) associated with Lauryl Dietylene Glycol Ether Sulfate Sodium (28%) and acetylcysteine (10%). In addition to topical treatment, 5 mg/kg of ceftiofur was administered intramuscularly daily for 7 days. After 10 flushes of the guttural pouch, was observed a total absence of chondroid and mucopurulent contents.Discussion: The treatment of the guttural pouch empyema can be performed either by conservative methods or by the surgical drainage. Among the benefits of the conservative treatment are the absence of the risks related to the surgical procedure and the possibility of doing the treatment without a surgical facility. On the other hand, it usually presents a longer time to the remission of the clinical signs compared with the surgical drainage, since the mucopurulent content and the chondroids have to be disassembled and dissolved before being able to be drained from the guttural pouch. Even though, the conservative treatment is effective to a large number of cases, and with the utilization of agents to dissolve the chondroids can be performed with success in cases with a large number and size of chondroids. The surgical treatment is considered the gold standard in chronic cases, due to the difficult of removal of the chondroids with the conservative methods. The main complications related with the method are the iatrogenic lesions to noble structures present inside the guttural pouches, as cranial nerves and arteries. The decision of the treatment, surgical or conservative, must consider the risks to the patient, the facilities, and the costs of the procedure. The present study demonstrates that agents as lauryl-diethylene-glycol-ether sodium sulfate (28%) and acetyl cysteine can be effective as diluents for thick secretions and organic contents, and for that reason, increase the success of the conservative treatment of guttural pouch empyema. Consequently, improving the outcome and the rate of remission in cases of guttural pouch empyema that have a large number of chondroids, and are located remotely from referring veterinary hospitals or that cannot afford the surgical procedure.

Deep digital flexor (DDF) tenotomy and realignment of the distal phalanx (DP) is a therapy used for the treatment of horses with chronic laminitis that, despite the few results described in the literature, presents with promising results. In view of this knowledge gap, this study aimed to describe and compare the clinical and radiographic findings of horses subject to this treatment. To this end, 7 horses with chronic laminitis that underwent tenotomy of the DDF in the metacarpal region and realignment of the DP by means of trimming and shoeing were included in this study. Data were obtained from the moments before and after the procedure. An improvement in clinical and radiographic parameters was observed when comparing the moment before and after the procedure, and it was concluded that this therapy is a viable option for the treatment of horses with chronic laminitis refractory to other therapies.

A obstrução intestinal por corpo estranho de origem frutífera em primatas não humanos é pouco comum na rotina clínico cirúrgica de animais silvestres, mas de grande relevância quando se trata de animais resgatados que foram submetidos a mudanças alimentares, podendo ocasionar ingestão errônea de frutos inteiros e de sementes de grande tamanho. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho é relatar dois animais do gênero Ateles spp. que apresentaram desconforto abdominal agudo e que foram submetidos à celiotomia exploratória onde observou-se obstrução intraluminal por corpo estranho de origem frutífera do duodeno proximal, ambos os casos foram submetidos ao tratamento cirúrgico e manejo pós-operatório. Observou-se melhora clínica de ambos os animais e foi possível o retorno dos mesmos ao centro de resgate e concluiu-se que a técnica empregada de diagnóstico, tratamento e manejo pós-operatório foi eficiente para a manutenção da vida destes animais.