Equine respiratory pharmacology

Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract. 1999 Dec;15(3):665-86, ix-x. doi: 10.1016/s0749-0739(17)30138-4.

Abstract

Differentiation of diseases of the equine respiratory tract is based on history, clinical signs, auscultation, endoscopy, imaging, and sampling of airway exudate. Upper respiratory therapies include surgical correction of airway obstructions; flushing of localized abscesses (strangles), guttural pouch disease, or sinusitis; and oral or parenteral antibiotic and anti-inflammatory therapy if deemed necessary. Pneumonia usually is treated with antimicrobials, anti-inflammatories, and bronchodilators. Pleural drainage is indicated if significant pleural effusion is present. The most commonly used therapies for early inflammatory and chronic allergic obstructive conditions include bronchodilators and anti-inflammatories. Acute respiratory distress, particularly acute pulmonary edema, is treated with diuretics (usually furosemide), intranasal oxygen, bronchodilators, corticosteroids, and alleviation of the underlying cause. Furosemide also had been used in North America as a race-day preventative for exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (EIPH), but recent data have shown that furosemide may be a performance-enhancing agent itself.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anthelmintics / therapeutic use
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / therapeutic use
  • Antifungal Agents / therapeutic use
  • Bronchodilator Agents / therapeutic use
  • Glucocorticoids / therapeutic use
  • Horse Diseases / drug therapy*
  • Horses
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / drug therapy
  • Respiratory Tract Infections / veterinary*

Substances

  • Anthelmintics
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal
  • Antifungal Agents
  • Bronchodilator Agents
  • Glucocorticoids