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Recurrent Airway Obstruction (view source)

Revision as of 13:25, 26 August 2010

684 bytes removed ,  13:25, 26 August 2010
→‎Treatment
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==Treatment==
 
==Treatment==
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The single most important treatment is environmental management to reduce allergen exposure. Medication will alleviate clinical signs of disease; however, respiratory disease will return after medication is discontinued if the horse remains in the allergen-challenged environment. The most common culprits are organic dusts present in hay, which need not appear overtly musty to precipitate an episode in a sensitive horse. Horses should be maintained at pasture with fresh grass as the source of roughage, supplemented with pelleted feed. Round bale hay is particularly allergenic and a common cause of treatment failure for horses on pasture. Horses that remain stalled should be maintained in a clean, controlled environment. Complete commerial feeds eliminate the need for roughage. Hay cubes and hay silage are acceptable, low-allergen alternative sources of roughage and may be preferred by horses over the complete feeds. Soaking hay with water prior to feeding may control clinical signs in mildly affected horses but is unacceptable for highly sensitive horses. Horses maintained in a stall should not be housed in the same building as an indoor arena, hay should not be stored overhead, and straw bedding should be avoided. Horses with summer pasture-associated obstructive pulmonary disease should be maintained in a dust-free, stable environment.
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The mainstays of treatment
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Environmental control to reduce allergen exposure is key to the management of recurrent airway obstruction, as signs will re-appear following discontinuation of medication if this is not implemented. Since dusts in hay and straw are the most common triggers for disease, animals should be kept at pasture if possible. The availability of fresh grass eliminated the need for hay, and supplementary feeding can be achieved with pelleted feedstuffs. Round bale hay should not be provided as it is particularly allergenic and can cause environmental control to fail<sup>merck</sup>. If turn-out is not possibly, for example due to weather conditions, stalled horses should be maintained in a clean, controlled environment. Complete feeds may be fed that totally eliminate the need for roughge, although some horses prefer hay cubes or hay silage, which are equally acceptable. Soaked hay should not be fed as dust is incompletely removed and the nutritional content is poor. Shavings, newspaper or peat rather than straw should be used to bed animals, and supplies of hay and straw should not be kept in the same building as a RAO-afflicted animal. The addition of good ventilation to the stable design is also helpful if feasible. For example, a louvered vent may be added at the back of the stable, and the top door kept permanently open.
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and prevention of RAO are
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environmental control, the
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use of bronchodilators to
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reduce respiratory distress
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and the administration of
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corticosteroids to reduce
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inflammation.
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Environmental control
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Environmental control is important in all stages of the
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disease and, as reported by many studies, may in itself
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result in clinical and functional improvement. Owners
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need to appreciate that environmental management is at
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least as important as medical treatment, and they should
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be made aware that even a brief exposure to dust is sufficient
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to induce inflammation in horses with RAO, which
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may take days or weeks to resolve.
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Bronchodilators
   
Bronchodilators are used to counteract the broncho spasm
 
Bronchodilators are used to counteract the broncho spasm
 
and thereby relieve some of the respiratory distress experienced
 
and thereby relieve some of the respiratory distress experienced
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