Infectious Arthritis Incidence Following Joint Injections

Veterinarians commonly inject horses' joints both to diagnose and treat lameness. They inject diagnostic anesthesia to pinpoint painful joints, and they inject anti-inflammatory medications to help treat them. These procedures, however, don't come without risk of infection, so most veterinarians (about 78%, according to a 2009 survey) add antibiotics to intra-articular (IA) injections just to be safe.

 

"The most feared complication is infectious arthritis," said Anna Bohlin, DVM, of the Evidensia Equine Hospital, in Sweden, "and to some veterinarians this justifies routine use of prophylactic (preventive) antibiotics."

 

But are these additional drugs really necessary?

 

To find out, Bohlin reviewed veterinary records from horses treated with joint injections from 1999 to 2010 and their outcomes. She presented her findings at the 2014 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 6-10 in Salt Lake City, Utah.

 

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.