Tell me about IRAP for arthritis (specifically knee)

[pattnic]

Interested in hearing thoughts on IRAP for knee arthritis.

Mare (now 21) was diagnosed with arthritis in her knee in 2011, at which time her knee was injected with HA/steroid. The injection held (with additional support of Adequan or Pentosan - initially monthly, and then 2X/monthly) for about three years, and then another two years with the addition of daily Previcox.

The knee was injected again about 8 months ago (about 5 years after the initial injection), but the horse is now uncomfortable again and bute, Previcox, and Surpass aren’t helping. (There was a stretch of several months where through very correct riding/training, she was sound without the Previcox).

The current vet has suggested injecting the knee again… I’m wondering if IRAP might be a better option. It was originally mentioned as an option nearly 6 years ago if the initial knee injection didn’t help, but, given that the injection did work, I never looked into it further.

Horse has been in light work and has a lot of turnout (not quite 24/7, as she does like to have some time in a stall, especially in the summer to get away from flies).

Thanks!

[Laurierace]

Not an answer to your question but I am down in Wellington right now and Pro Stride is all the rage for joints. Definitely something I would consider if need be.

[joiedevie99]

Laurierace is right. My vet clinic is using Pro-Stride instead of IRAP in most instances now. It has the same benefits, and is cheaper and easier. While 8 months for a joint injection to last isn’t awful (most vets will do them as close together as every 6 months - but not more often). That said, I’d certainly give Pro-Stride a shot and see if you get longer lasting results.

[dressager]

Certainly joints differ depending on their mobility levels and individual horses respond in different ways. I have only seen IRAP used once in a joint and it was in the pastern joint. Horse went through probably 4-5 rounds of treatment. He maybe improved a little bit for a short while (maybe) but we ended up injecting with HA/cortisone about six months later and he was completely sound. We’ve had to reinject it once since then.

[Culetose]

We adopted a thoroughbred mare who had IRAP therapy for her knee. She’s never taken a lame step (I believe it’s been 3 or 4 years since IRAP; she’s been in my barn for a couple years). She gets ridden 5x/week in a program with some low level jumping. I would 100% do it for one of mine if they needed it. I think it’s worth the money.

I think you need to weigh the pros and cons too. If she’ll just be a pleasure type horse and considering her age, maybe manage it in other ways. But it is an impressive therapy!

[tpup]

IRAP was very helpful for my old Appy who had severe hock arthritis. He couldn’t have hock injections due to reactions from those specific meds. We did IRAP and Adequan injections on a regular basis and he did very well. His hocks were VERY bad so I was glad we had other options.

[andhourspass]

In January we completed multiple IRAP II injections in my older mare’s knee. She has some nasty arthritis in it but has been sound. We were just hoping to stop the arthritis in its tracks. Unfortunately, she has been favoring that knee quite a lot lately - even during grooming, when she previously never favored it at all under any circumstances - so I’m not sure if the injections exacerbated the issue or what. I suppose another call to the vet is in order. She only has 70% range of motion in that knee so we had to do something more than just HA and Osphos (which did little to nothing) and Pentosan which she gets every 3 weeks and has been on for several years. Many people I’ve talked to have had excellent success with IRAP II so I would still recommend it.