Safety of Intra-Articular Gold Microimplants in Horses–A Randomized, Blinded, Controlled Experimental Study

Märki, Nina; Witte, Stefan; Kuchen, Stephan; Reichenbach, Stefan; Ramseyer, Alessandra; Gerber, Vincent; Spadavecchia, Claudia (2018). Safety of Intra-Articular Gold Microimplants in Horses–A Randomized, Blinded, Controlled Experimental Study. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 60, 59-66.e2. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jevs.2017.03.005

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Arthrogenic pain is a common problem in equids. Frequently used treatments such as systemic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or intra-articular steroids can lead to severe side effects if used repeatedly. Gold has been used since ancient times to treat a variety of conditions and has anti-inflammatory and immunomodulating properties. Results from clinical and in vitro studies suggest that local gold might provide a safe and effective alternative to alleviate articular pain. In particular, gold microimplants have been proposed to this end, but it is unknown if and how healthy joints react to this treatment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety of gold microimplants (Berlock-Micro-Implants) mixed with hyaluronic acid and injected into the middle carpal joint of nine healthy horses. Each horse was treated in one carpus and sham-treated on the contralateral. Lameness, carpal temperature increase, swelling, and reactions to joint palpation were observed in both treated and sham-treated carpi in the first week after needle arthroscopy and treatment. Significant differences between treated and sham-treated carpi were found only for mechanical nociceptive thresholds 4 days after treatment. Higher thresholds were found in treated joints compared with sham-treated joints. None of the outcome measures selected in the present study indicated systemic or local adverse effects specifically attributed to gold microimplants. In the absence of systemic and local adverse reactions to gold microimplants, the results of the present study support future clinical trials to test the pain-relieving efficacy of this treatment modality in subacute or chronic articular inflammatory processes in equine patients.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > DKV - Anaesthesiology
05 Veterinary Medicine > Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine (DKV) > ISME Equine Clinic Bern > ISME Equine Clinic, Internal medicine
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Dermatology, Urology, Rheumatology, Nephrology, Osteoporosis (DURN) > Clinic of Rheumatology and Immunology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Märki, Nina Laura, Witte, Stefan, Reichenbach, Stephan, Ramseyer, Alessandra Anna, Spadavecchia, Claudia

Subjects:

600 Technology > 630 Agriculture
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

0737-0806

Publisher:

Elsevier

Language:

English

Submitter:

Doris Kopp Heim

Date Deposited:

30 May 2017 11:08

Last Modified:

02 Mar 2023 23:29

Publisher DOI:

10.1016/j.jevs.2017.03.005

Uncontrolled Keywords:

Gold; Horse; Intra-articular; Microimplants; Berlock

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.101035

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/101035

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