Use of force plate analysis to compare the analgesic effects of intravenous administration of phenylbutazone and flunixin meglumine in horses with navicular syndrome

Abstract

In horses with navicular syndrome treated once daily for 4 days, typical clinical doses of flunixin and phenylbutazone resulted in similar significant improvement in lameness at 6, 12, and 24 hours after the final dose, compared with findings in horses treated with saline solution. The effect of flunixin or phenylbutazone was maintained for at least 24 hours. Flunixin meglumine and phenylbutazone appear to have similar analgesic effects in horses with navicular syndrome.

Adaptation Strategies of Horses with Lameness

“…The kinetics of lameness have been studied using equine patients that have clearly diagnosed lamenesses (navicular disease [43][44][45][46][47][48] and tendonitis of the superficial digital flexor tendon [44,49]) or applying different lameness models (endotoxin-induced synovitis model [50], surgically created chip fracture osteoarthritis model [51,52], collagenase-induced tendonitis model [53][54][55][56], and sole pressure model [30,[57][58][59]). The increasing number of clinical studies involving GRF measurements published in the past 5 years reflects the growing interest in quantitative lameness assessment to reliably test effects of drugs [60][61][62] and other therapeutic interventions [63,64] of surgical procedures, or therapeutic shoeing [65][66][67].…”

Nonsteroidal Anti‐Inflammatory Drugs and Corticosteroids

“…Cases of myonecrosis have been reported with intramuscular use (Peek et al, 2003). Flunixin is efficacious for the treatment of osteoarthritic conditions (Goodrich & Nixon, 2006), and is comparable to phenylbutazone for the treatment of navicular syndrome (Erkert et al, 2005). When flunixin and phenylbutazone are combined, they are more effective in treating lameness than either NSAID administered alone (Keegan et al, 2008).…”

Pain management in a horse with severe head trauma

“…Generell wird aber davon ausgegangen, dass Schmerzen beim Pferd zu wenig Beachtung geschenkt wird und hinter der Schmerztherapie bei Kleintieren herhinkt (Taylor 2003 (Foreman et al 2008). Vergleiche der analgetischen Potenz dieser beiden Antiphlogistika gibt es nur bei orthopädisch induzierten Schmerzen (Erkert et al 2005). Beide Medikamente zeigten eine vergleichbare Reduktion der gewählten Kriterien wie Lahmheit und Veränderungen in der Ganganalyse.…”