Musculoskeletal system – Horses – EBVM in Practice

Musculoskeletal system – horses

Injuries and surgery
Laminitis
Osteoarthritis
Temperomandibular joint (TMJ) disease

BBV	BestBETs for Vets, Centre for Evidence-based Veterinary Medicine
VE	Veterinary Evidence, Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Knowledge

Injuries and surgery

CRITICALLY APPRAISED TOPICS

Box rest and analgesia versus arthroscopic debridement for lame horses with hindlimb subchondral lucencies – VE (2023)

Casting versus bandaging alone in healing of equine heel bulb lacerations – VE (2020)

High-intensity laser therapy and conservative management versus conservative management alone and speed of return to primary function in horses with suspensory ligament desmopathy – VE (2023)

Intralesional stem cell therapy and equine flexor tendon healing – VE (2017)

Removal of proximo-plantar osteochondral fragments versus conservative management and subsequent lameness in young Thoroughbreds – VE (2019)

Rest alone versus bandaging and rest in horses with superficial digital flexor tendinopathy – VE (2019)

Sedation with a₂-adrenergic agonists alone versus a₂-adrenergic agonists in combination with butorphanol tartrate and effect on lameness investigation – VE (2021)

Tenoscopic debridement versus surgical repair for longitudinal tears of the equine deep digital flexor tendon and return to performance – VE (2018)

Tendon firing versus rest and time to recovery for superficial digital flexor tendon injury – BBV (2016/2025)

Laminitis

CRITICALLY APPRAISED TOPICS

Changes in hoof wall temperature and digital pulse pressure and prediction of laminitis onset – VE (2019)

Continuous digital hypothermia versus supportive treatment in the prevention and treatment of acute equine laminitis – VE (2020)

Cryotherapy of the distal limbs and treatment for acute equine laminitis – VE (2021)

Therapeutic systemic corticosteroid administration and association with laminitis in adult horses without underlying endocrine or severe systemic disease – VE (2016)

Venograms versus plain radiographs and diagnostic or prognostic information in horses with chronic laminitis – VE (2017)

Osteoarthritis

CRITICALLY APPRAISED TOPICS

Bisphosphonates versus intra-articular steroids in horses with distal hock osteoarthritis – VE (2020)

Bisphosphonates versus NSAIDs to improve lameness in distal tarsal joints osteoarthritis – VE (2020)

Intra-articular injection of antimicrobials alongside corticosteroids or other medications and the risk of synovial sepsis in horses with arthritis – VE (2019)

Intra-articular antimicrobials and the risk of sepsis after intra-articular corticosteroids in horses with arthritis – VE (2020)

Intra-articular polyacrylamide gel versus intra-articular corticosteroid in improving lameness in horses with osteoarthritis – VE (2022)

Mesenchymal stem cell therapy versus intra-articular corticosteroids and lameness in horses with osteoarthritis – VE (2020)

Temperomandibular joint (TMJ) disease

SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS

Equine temporomandibular joint diseases: A systematic review – Jasiński et al. (2025)