Various conditions associated with acute trauma, chronic overuse injuries, or overtraining syndromes can affect equine athletes throughout their athletic life. EVMC Sports Medicine & Rehabilitation team’s roles are diagnosis, prevention and treatment of sports-related injuries/problems
State-of-the-art diagnostics and treatment of poor performance and lameness cases are routinely performed in the Sports Medicine Service at EVMC. Conditions such as foot pain, joint pain, soft tissue injury, bone pain, neck/back/pelvis pain are diagnosed daily.
Comprehensive static and dynamic examinations combined with diagnostic analgesia techniques (nerve and synovial blocks) are utilized by the Sports Medicine team to localize pain/problems. High-quality first-line imaging tools (digital X-rays and ultrasound) are available to provide an inside view on the horse's anatomy to reach diagnosis and prognosis.
For cases where a deeper understanding is needed, EVMC also provides advanced imaging modalities such as Scintigraphy, CT and 3T-MRI. Subtle gait abnormalities can also be diagnosed and followed up with the help of computer gait analysis systems available at EVMC.
Upper and lower respiratory dysfunction with/without respiratory noise that impairs performances are routinely diagnosed in the Sports Medicine service using static and dynamic endoscopy, as well as appropriate laboratory tests. Appropriate medical or surgical treatments are offered to maximize airway recovery/function. Doppler ultrasonography and Holter monitoring (ECG at rest or exercise during long periods) are available at EVMC for equine athletes suspected with cardiovascular problems.
Therapeutic strategies are usually tailored to each individual horse and combined to maximize sustainable returns to performance within the shortest time possible. A particular attention is paid to medication withdrawal times in order to comply with national/international doping policies in place in each equine athletic activity.
A wide range of therapeutic options are available at EVMC:
Hyaluronic acids with high viscosity, corticosteroids with various potency and duration of action, polyacrylamide gels, glycosaminoglycans, and more.