Horse Hyperbaric chamber explosion in Ocala, Florida.

Very sad. You would think the horse would have been sedated while in there.....

For what treatments are hyperbaric chambers utilized?

Quote:

Originally Posted by sourland 

For what treatments are hyperbaric chambers utilized?

I'd assume mostly stuff dealing with wound care and necrosis (since I assume horses don't scuba dive, they wouldn't need it if they got the bends), which are used with human medicine quite often. Gas gangrene, bony necrosis, helping skin grafts tke, etc. all heal better in the hyperbaric environment. It can be a last ditch effort to get poor healing wounds to improve.

I'd expect it mostly would be used on very valuable horses with rich owners who can afford top notch veterinary care.

Thanks, my mind went in another direction - I was wondering if it had something to do with lung bleeding/conditioning in race horses.

According to some articles on thehorse.com, hyperbaric oxygen treatment is used for a variety of ailments, including deep wounds and joint injuries - not necessarily those that aren't responding well. Also, the horse should not have been wearing steel shoes, or the shoes should have been covered with boots, to prevent a spark from happening. Tragic.

Terribly tragic.  Makes me wonder if it's worth the risk to use those things with an animal that is that big and doesn't understand the conditions it's in.  Very sad.

The horse that was killed in the explosion was a three day eventer named Landmarks Legendary Affaire. His sire was one of my favorite race horses, Black Tie Affair, winner of the 1991 Breeders Cup Classic. The dam, Honest Legend has no ancestry listed. He was being treated for EPM, Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis a Neuro muscular disease carried by Opossoms, It is often fatal in horses if not caught and treated early. Diagnosing it can be tricky since it exhibits symptoms common in other neurological diseases. Symptons include

• loss of coordination
• muscle atrophy
• difficultly swallowing
• sore back
• stumbling
• roaring
• locking of the stifle joint
• weakness
• drooping eyelid
• head tilt

Often it is confused with Wobbler Syndrome.  The saddest part of this whole tragedy is that if they had pulled his shoes off, this would never have happened. Sadly the technician paid for this mistake with her life.

Interesting. We have had 3 horses at a local barn treated for EPM, including one that I now own. I hadn't heard of using oxygen therapy, I am assuming that this would be in addition to the drugs?

I will certainly say a prayer for the victims and their families.