Affiliation:
1. Resident in Large Animal Internal Medicine, Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract
Equine asthma is a disease which affects horses across the globe and can range from mild exercise impairment to severe debilitation that decreases the horse's quality of life. Treatment currently focuses on environmental management, bronchodilators and systemic and inhaled glucocorticosteroids. Glucocorticosteroids remain the mainstay of therapy but can have deleterious side effects; therefore, there is a critical need for the development of new therapies. Nebulised lidocaine and immunomodulatory therapy both hold promise for the treatment of equine asthma, especially with respect to avoiding the deleterious effects of glucocorticosteroids.