Orthopedics

The staff at Reid and Associates Equine Clinic are prepared to address orthopedic injuries, both as elective surgery and emergency situations.

Musculoskeletal injuries—tendons, ligaments and joints—are not uncommon in a range of horses, from your daughter’s 4-H buddy to a high performance athlete.

Regenerative Medicine

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) and stem cells are among the most used regenerative medicine today, and along with I-RAP, can speed recovery and improve the quality of healing.

PRP, derived from your horse’s own blood, is blood plasma enriched with platelets. The result is concentrated growth factors that stimulate healing. PRP has proven effective in bone and soft tissue injuries and is suitable for joint and tendon treatments, as well as wounds. PRP can be used locally and intralesionally.

The use of stem cells in various treatments continues to grow in popularity. Like PRP, stem cells are provided by your own horse. These cells are collected and sent to a lab to be cultured, multiplied and then prepared for injection into local sites, including tendons, joints and injured bones. In many instances, PRP and stem cells treatments are used in conjunction with each other, enhancing healing. Stem cells can also be frozen for future treatments.

Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein (IRAP) has surged in popularity in recent years to reduce inflammation and allow healing. IRAP is an excellent approach for horses not responding to conventional anti-inflammatory protocols.

How does IRAP work? Interleukin-1 is the predominate protein that causes inflammation in a horse’s joints. IRAP is created from your horse’s blood. It is a serum rich in the antagonist of interleukin-1 protein, reducing inflammation and allowing your horse to heal naturally. It is a 24-hour process to culture the blood and produce IRAP. IRAP is particularly effective in treating inflamed joints.

Musculoskeletal injuries—tendons, ligaments and joints—are not uncommon in a range of horses, from your daughter’s 4-H buddy to a high performance athlete.

Fortunately state-of-the-art diagnostics and the experienced veterinarians at Reid and Associates Equine Clinic can help identify the cause of your horse’s unsoundness and develop an effective plan to return him to full health. Visit the MRI, ultrasound and imaging pages for more information on each of these diagnostics.

Surgical Diagnosis and Repair

Minimally invasive surgery has become the norm to evaluate and treat joint and soft tissue injuries. Arthroscopy and tenoscopy (joint surgery and tendon surgery performed via an endoscope inserted through a small incision) allow veterinarians to view and/or repair a joint or tendon sheath with reduced healing time and less scarring.

These procedures are also increasingly used as a diagnostic tool to uncover a problem that cannot be seen on an MRI or x-ray. Many developmental issues such as OCD, as well as orthopedic infection and septic joints, can also be diagnosed and treated with these procedures.

Fracture Repair

Over the last few years, Sythes locking compression plate (LCP) technology has improved outcomes in fracture repair. The patented stainless steel and titanium plates are locked into position with screws that form a 90-degree angle. The result is a stiffer construct of bone and plate allowing full weight bearing immediately after surgery. LCP used by trained surgeons offers groundbreaking results.

Knee joint

The minimally invasive process is effective in fractured limbs, fractured mandibles and foals with angular limb deformity that requires surgical correction of deviated limbs.

Shockwave Therapy

Reid and Associates offers ECSW Swiss Dolorclast shockwave treatments on diagnosed soft tissue injuries. Shockwave therapy complements the healing of soft tissue and other orthopedic injuries.

Bring your horse to the clinic or a veterinarian can travel to your barn or horse show to provide this treatment shown to speed healing and improve the quality of the repaired tissues.

Coffin bone and pastern

Veterinarians in Residence

Each year a variety of specialists are in residence at Reid and Associates.

Dean Richardson AB, DVM

Charles W. Raker Professor of Equine Surgery, University of Pennsylvania

  • School of Veterinary Medicine
  • Chief, Large Animal Surgery, University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
  • American College of Veterinary Surgeons
  • Specializes in lower limb surgeries

 

David Freeman MVB, MRCVS, PhD

  • Large Animal Surgery Service Chief
  • Director, Island Whirl Equine Colic Research Laboratory, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Large Animal Clinical Sciences, University of Florida, College of Veterinary Medicine
  • Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons

 

James Robertson DVM

  • Formerly Ohio State University Equine Soft Tissue Surgeon
  • Diplomate, American College of Veterinary Surgeons