Hi all, I recently heard about a vet in my area that offers a service I’m intrigued by- a diagnostic gait analysis. I have heard good things about this vet and her reputation. A friend of mine recently used the service and the vet recommended 11 areas for joint injections- with DMSO. The price seems very economical at $50/site, but I am not familiar with DMSO joint injections. Thoughts? Any info is appreciated.
Vets have been injecting joints for 30 or 35 years. DMSO has been around longer. Injecting DMSO isn’t common practice for a reason.
It doesn’t look like this study found any harm, but also no benefit.
Also no benefit here.
I don’t know why a vet would do this, other than it’s cheap, unlikely to cause harm, and makes owners feel like they’re doing “something.”
Would be curious if this vet can point to anything published showing benefit.
Well… I find this kind of alarming. Maybe that’s why I haven’t heard of it previously. I also feel like joint injections (with steroids or other ‘proven’ injectables) are a risk vs benefit scenario that must be considered, the risk being possible joint infection. I would hate to inject 11 areas with something that technical won’t hurt but will likely have no benefit .
I know that vet offers many other therapies (including steroids, IRAP etc) but that makes me question the motive behind offering an injectable with no proven benefit.
It is alarming. You haven’t heard of it because there’s really no point in using DMSO this way (at least that a quick lit search reveals.)
Yes, absolutely, there are risks to going into a joint, and those risks should be weighed against the potential benefit. Without benefit…this just appears to be risk.
I would be curious how the vet justifies this. Is there other literature that demonstrates something different than these papers? Is it just anecdotal “I’ve seen it work wonders”? Is it because DMSO does have anti-inflammatory properties? There’s a reason WHY this has been investigated–people thought it might do something neat!!–but it didn’t pan out, so it’s not a tool most vets are going to use. So why is this one?
Can you even get DMSO in a sterile container? This just sounds terrifying to me.
Since it is a common treatment to give it IV especially for neuro cases it seems likely that yes, there is medical grade DMSO.
Having done this when my horse had his accident where he broke his scapula and we were concerned about all of the nerve bundle in the shoulder and preventing support limb laminitis, I’m not sure that is the case—just the liquid form. It’s diluted in saline usually. One vet I know prefers to just give it via NG tube and says it does the same thing that way (e.g., for a horse with laminitis).
It’s alarming to be that the vet wants to inject 11 sites. Never mind the totally unsupported use of DMSO.
What is this ‘diagnostic gait analysis’? I’m familiar with 2 programs and neither one out right tells you what joints to inject or if you should inject at all. I also have questions about only trotting the horse up on one surface and in a straight line. Most good soundness exams include hard and soft footing and lunging.
Seems gimmicky.
I am not arguing for or against this method, just sharing what the website says:
Diagnostic Gait Analysis combines critical gait evaluation with state of the art musculoskeletal ultrasonography for performance evaluations, pre-performance screening and lameness exams. The analysis begins with a dynamic exam on an equine treadmill, which improves objectivity by providing consistent footing, minimizing distractions and eliminating perspective distortion. Dynamic exam is followed by comprehensive ultrasound in order to reach diagnosis and guide treatment.
My friend that had it done said that the treadmill was used and that all 4 legs were evaluated with ultrasound.
I did want to comment (just for some color) that I work in human medical imaging and am a sonographer myself. This ultrasound machine pictured on the vet’s website is the same one we use in our clinics (a large academic medical center). I have never, in all of my years as an equestrian, seen a vet clinic have such a NICE piece of ultrasound equipment. Typically what I see vets using is no where the level of what is used on humans. I found it very surprising that they have such a nice machine! Again though, I just mention it because it was interesting to me, not because I think it has any bearing either way on the value of the service being offered.
When I was a tech (admittedly nearly 20 years ago), I was horrified that we open poured DMSO from a regular gallon jug into a syringe (meaning, pulled the plunger out and poured it in) before adding it from the syringe to the fluid bag with a needle. This was at a well regarded hospital. Surely one wouldn’t inject joints after open pouring DMSO into a syringe?!
ETA apparently you can get it, even on Amazon! 🤦🏻 https://a.co/d/gSkxKXT
Update for anyone curious- I asked my vet.
He said that some vets are injecting DMSO into joints based on anecdotal evidence, and that to his knowledge it has never caused any issues. He does not think there is science to support it’s efficacy though, and does not offer it himself. He also said you CAN’T get sterile DMSO (although ole google seems to suggest otherwise). Additionally, he pointed out that it’s not a labeled use for DMSO and if a horse became septic from a joint infection and had to be euthanized then insurance companies would not cover it.
Yep! I had a laminitis mare last year that we kind of threw the book at including jugging her with dmso in ringers. I was thrown to see the dmso poured right from a regular bottle! But it 100% saved her.
OMG I can’t believe we’re still doing this. I mean, I guess nothing bad has happened yet? But my training has always told me that thanks that get injected must be sterile.
Most things that are injected into the muscle aren’t sterile. That multi dose Adequan in your tack room, not sterile. Same for IV, multi dose Banamine, not sterile past the first use.
Sterile and aseptic are not the same.