My mare gets IRAP for a coffin joint that had chip surgery. It’s great, but you have to reinject more frequently than you would have to for a normal joint injection (4 months vs. 6 months) as it does not seem to last as long. Her right stifle offloads from the coffin when it starts to get sore and then her stifle gets sore. We discussed prostride vs. IRAP for the stifle and concluded that we would prefer IRAP and will do a series after show season. Prostride is sold by the kit and a kit will do one joint, so if you need upper and lower hock joints, you need two kits. We thought maybe we might want two kits for the stifle, so it ends up being more expensive than IRAP. I get about 8 and 1/2 doses from Irap, for $750 plus cost of injections.That will do her coffin joint four times and her stifle twice before I need another draw, so it ends up being cheaper for me and there is more science behind it. That said, there are some big time performance vets using prostride as a first source joint injection treatment now.
We did Pro-stride in my horse’s navicular bursa (one foot only) this spring. She had had that coffin injected with steroid in the fall, so we didn’t want to inject with steroid again after only 5 months. Opted for Pro-stride over IRAP so we did not have to stick a needle in there multiple times with the IRAP series. It made a big improvement to her comfort level in that foot-- she hadn’t had the bursa injected with steroid in 3+ years so hard to say which “helped more,” but it definitely did something. It was NOT cheap though.
Good distinction about the ProStride kit vs the multiple injections for more than one joint you can get from IRAP. There are pros and cons of each depending on the needs of the horse it sounds like.
My horse had ProStride injections in his hocks a few months ago. He started needing injections at decreasing intervals. He had previously had IRAP which worked well, but the advantage with ProStride was that only 1 injection per hock joint is needed whereas IRAP requires 2 or 3 rounds of injections each time. It’s worked pretty well so far but we’re only about 2.5 months out. I’ll be interested to see how long it lasts for him. I’d love it if it actually lasted for a year as advertised.
Bumping this up for question - earlier posts seem mostly to deal with joint issues. A friend mentioned the treatment/product with reference to my horse’s suspensory injury. I looked at website, not sure if this is a recommended treatment for such. I know my vet said they didn’t recommend stem cell treatment, because there was no “hole”. Still, it’s a serious injury and we’re on month 19 of “rehab” (He was almost back to cantering, then partially reinjured it).j
IRAP can be useful for soft tissue injuries. So can PRP and stem cells. The risk with ProStride is in the higher WB count, which makes the risk of flare a little bit higher than IRAP. In a joint like the hock, this is an inconvenient, potentially expensive complication, but in soft tissue, it’s a scarier thing (ask me how I know…my horse had a flare in a tendon from stem cells). This is also why some vets I know are interested in it for necks, backs, but they have not been comfortable doing those injections yet.
So, I’m reading this as being mostly for joint/arthritic issues? But you mention collateral ligament damage. Don’t suppose it would be of any use with regard to a suspensory injury?
They use IRAP and PRP for some soft tissues, so you could in theory use it for a suspensory injury. What IRAP and PRP and Pro Stride are supposed to do for those problems is to stop the inflammatory process. Which is also what it does to make joints feel better. I’ve been told by a couple of vets that there could be a greater risk of a flare reaction with Pro Stride because of increased white blood cells in it vs IRAP. There’s already a greater risk of flare reaction when you are injecting biologics into soft tissue structures, so it may or may not be what you want to use. It might depend on the location. With the one horse and the hock, the vet felt it was safe. And from a flare reaction perspective it was for that horse. He just appeared to react adversely in other ways.
haha…oh hey, look that’s also what I said once before.
Bump this thread as I just had my horse injected with this stuff… waiting to see how long it lasts. The research says it regenerates the joint…
He came out better then he has in months but lets see how long it lasts… only time will tell. coffin and pastern joints done…
Love the Prostride! My
mare got kicked in the hock and had a slab fracture and ligament damage.
i never thought she’d be sound again! Well, after ProStride and six months of rest she is now back in the show ring, jumping 1.1M, and sound and happy to work! I would use it again in a heart beat! It’s now a year since injection!
@IPEsq could you explain more on the details as to why vets are looking into this for backs? Just interested in learning the most I can and maybe asking my vet more details/if they do this.
For the same reasons they would use a steroid.
The whole point of IRAP/ProStride is to shut down the inflammatory cascade. These things do that without the negative side effects of steroid (and perhaps last longer, too?)
I think how long it lasts depends on the cause of the inflammation. Depo Medrol is pretty commonly the steroid of choice for backs, and its effects tend to be pretty long lasting. If you have something like KS or other bony changes, then the cause of inflammation isn’t going to be helped much by the anti-inflammatory agent. If, say, you had soft tissue damage, then perhaps Pro Stride could promote healing that would prevent future flare ups.
Bumping-any new success stories?
Barn friend of mine used it for a sticky stiffle/arthrosis (I can’t recall all the details : Horse was lame and wouldn’t canter no more on the left side) and is really happy with the result.
ProStride works for my mare with bony changes in her fetlock (pasture injury + fragmented chips that were removed), high motion joint. Amazingly well, steroids waste of money. I would try it before steroids particularity considering it is less expensive. UPENN & surgeon prefer it for treatment. I would have to refresh myself on the modality but ProStride had far more anti inflammatory properties than the steroid injection (that was a fail).
Little Mare tore her collateral ligament last August. At the same time she also sustained a sub-chondral bone injury to P1 at her cannon bone (where her fetlock meets her cannon bone) with cartilage damage and an avulsion fracture. Retirement was the best option due to her insurance expiring and funds. But Little Mare progressed with rest. My vet talked me into dumping a little more money into the ProStride. She’s currently back walk, trot, canter. My vets and her chiropractor have both said “she’s about as sound as they come.” Her next soundness examine will be right before she’s allowed to start jumping again!
That is awesome!!
