Flesh wound: banamine vs bute

[GraceLikeRain]

Bute or banamine for cuts? I was always told bute for sore muscles and joint issues/lameness and banamine for colic and eyes. Never occurred to me where would a painful flesh would fall.

Backstory if of interest
2023 is really keeping me on my toes. Looks like mare may have gotten bit by a mega horse fly, bolted, and then went down hard or the giant bite and wipe out are unrelated. Horses. Thankfully she is sound but tore up her shoulder decently. Nothing was enough to stitch but it’s hot and painful with some raw patches and a few deeper cuts. Cold hosed, hibaclens scrub, sterile saline rinse, heavy handed application of silver sulfadiazine, 10cc banamine orally, and turned her out to self regulate movement. It looks much better 12 hours later when I repeated the above. Someone asked why banamine vs bute and I realized it was a gut feeling rather than data driven.

[Simkie]

I’ve actually been using a lot of Tylenol for that sort of thing and it’s worked very nicely with no hit to the GI.

This looks like a pretty nice summary:

Equine Pain Relief Tool Kit: Veterinarians Add Acetaminophen - Kentucky...

[LCDR]

I am not a vet but did complete training in clinical pharmacology, and have done peer reviewed published research in humans with acetaminophen, NSAIDs, opioids, and corticosteroids.

I would be hesitant to use acetaminophen as a replacement for NSAIDs like bute and banamine and Equioxx. In the clinical study cited above, which says signs of induced lameness was improved after acetaminophen therapy, I believe that the improvement was due to increased pain tolerance rather than reduction in hoof inflammation.

NSAIDs, simply put, reduce the inflammation at the site of the injury. There is reduction in inflammation, thus there is decreased nerve activity conducting pain impulses to the brain. Acetaminophen (and opioids) alter the perception of pain but the inflammation from the injury is still there.

A horse, not knowing anything about these different mechanisms of action, perceives less pain after receiving acetaminophen, but may over-stress the injured area because it feels better, and may worsen the inflammation at the site of its injury.

[Pico_Banana]

Interesting because I’ve been told that Tylenol works well for laminitis.

I use Tylenol on occasion with my senior. I have her on Equioxx now and again for general comfort and when the farrier is here she needs a little extra help so I add the Tylenol on top of the Equioxx.

As between banamine and bute for a superficial wound, I’d also go with banamine. I feel like that’s always what my vet prefers.

[Obsidian_Fire]

Thank you for putting that out there. People tend to lump Tylenol (acetaminophen) into the same category as Advil (ibuprofen) and THEY ARE NOT. Tylenol is NOT an anti-inflammatory. Advil is.

For horses, same thing - read labels and understand what you are reading. NSAID’s control inflammation (non steroidal ANTI IMFLAMMATORY drug). Others do not.

We have not really had (to my knowledge) simple “pain relief” for horses that was not an NSAID, so this is new territory so to speak and we need to remember this.

[SLW]

General cowboy guideline is: bute for issues of the knee/hocks down. Banamine for everything above.

Caveat- talk to your vet first if possible.