Regenerative

IRAP Therapy

SVEC use’s IRAP to treat arthritic pain and stop the degeneration of arthritis by harvesting and concentrating a natural substance that normally occurs in the horses blood.

Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is the inflammatory mediator that keeps arthritis going and the joint in a degenerative state.  Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein (IRAP) competes with IL-1 for the same receptor in the joint, thus stopping the degeneration of the cartilage, capsule and synovium (lining).  Our veterinarians routinely use this product in young horses with relatively mild synovitis and capsulitis to prevent arthritis, horses in training with developing osteoarthritis and post-surgically if cartilage loss would otherwise decrease the prognosis for an athlete to return to competition.

IRAP is produced by withdrawing a sample of the patient’s blood into a syringe containing specially treated chromium beads. During the incubation period, the red blood cells interact with the bead’s surface stimulating the production of large quantities (10 fold increase) of IRAP and other anti-inflammatory proteins and growth factors. The blood is then placed in a high speed centrifuge to separate out the resulting serum which can be injected directly into a problem joint or frozen for future use.  A typical treatment strategy would be one injection every 2-4 weeks for 3 treatments.

Focused Shockwave Therapy

SVEC use’s Focused Shockwave to dramatically increase the quality of injured tissue recovery and decrease recovery time of equine athlete’s in a safe, non-invasive and exponentially effective manner.

What is a true Shockwave?  It is an underwater explosion that creates a pressure wave which is focused to a specific treatment area using a handheld capsule.  When you apply this device to soft tissues, it has a potent analgesic (pain relief) affect, stimulates the tissues to undergo angiogenesis (new blood vessel formation) and stimulates the release of growth factors that hone stem cells to damaged areas restoring injured cells to their original effectiveness – minimizing scar tissue formation.  Quite a valuable device to equine athletes.

Recent scientific studies have shown a significant synergy when used with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) in injured soft tissues.  This is specifically seen if you use the Focused Shockwave directly following the injection of PRP to the affected treatment area.

PRP and Stem Cell (Bone Marrow derived) Therapy

SVEC use’s PRP and Stem Cell’s to treat tendon/ligament injuries and joint injuries such as meniscal tears by harvesting and concentrating a natural substance that normally occurs in the horses blood or bone marrow.

Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) is derived from the horse’s own blood.  Platelets are loaded with numerous growth factors that are released upon platelet activation. Large amounts of transforming growth factor beta and platelet derived growth factor and smaller amounts of insulin-like growth, epidermal growth factor and TGF-B are released upon activation. These growth factors act synergistically to hone stem cells to the area of tissue injury, formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis), formation of new connective tissue (fibroplasia) and regeneration of skin (re-epithelialization).

PRP can is obtained by drawing blood from the affected horse, combining with an anti-coagulant and centrifugation to concentrate the platelets into the plasma which then can be used for treatment. PRP is harvested using a 2 spin process and device, then injected back into the injured tendon, ligament or joint.

Stem cells derived from bone marrow obtained from the sternum or the pelvic bone (tuber coxae). Once the bone marrow has been obtained it is sent to a lab where it is cultured and expanded into millions of stem cells.  The typical dose ranges from 10 to 25 million stem cells per treatment.  The culture and expansion process takes approximately 3-4 weeks.  The stem cells can then be injected into the affected tendon, ligament or joint.  Recently, we have also been using stem cells to treat chronic laminitis cases with encouraging results. The multiple uses for stem cells have yet to be determined.

The second source of stem cells is fat.  The potential advantage to using fat derived stem cells is the faster processing and turn around time.  Research comparing bone marrow derived to fat derived stem cells indicate that bone marrow derived stem cells are superior to fat derived stem cells.