There are two treatments that we commonly use at NEC to treat lameness and joint injury in horses that take advantage of healing agents in the horse’s own blood.
IRAP or Interleukin-1 Receptor Agonist Protein, is used for arthritis and joint injuries and PRP or Platelet Rich Plasma, is used for tendon, ligament and some bone injuries.
Both techniques involve harvesting the patient’s blood and either incubating it in a special device for later separation into IRAP plasma and blood cells or centrifuging in a special device to separate the platelets in a small amount of plasma.
Once harvested, the IRAP is injected directly into a horse’s joint under sterile conditions to decrease the inflammation in the joint, provide healing and reduce pain. To be effective, this therapy requires an injection every 1-2 weeks for 4-6 injections.
PRP is injected directly into areas of tendon or ligament injury to help stimulate and accelerate healing in the damaged area. This treatment usually only requires 1-2 injections.
Both treatments must be used hand in hand with management and training practices to improve the outcome of injuries to joints, ligaments and tendons. There are usually no side effects to these therapies as the components are natural and come from the horse itself.
For more information, or if you are interested in this kind of treatment for your horse, give the clinic a ring on (02) 49276135.
