TREATMENT OF INTRASYNOVIAL INFECTION WITH GENTAMICIN-IMPREGNATED POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE BEADS

Gentamicin-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate beads were used in the t reatment of infective synovitis in 12 horses and 10 cattle. They had e ither proved refractory to standard treatments (lavage, debridement, j oint drainage and systemic antibiotics) or had evidence of osteomyelit is adjacent: to a synovial cavity, All the animals were severely lame. All the cattle and six of the horses had radiological evidence of ost eomyelitis in communication with a synovial cavity, The beads were pla ced intrasynovially under general anaesthesia and left in place for 14 days, One horse and one calf were euthanased owing to continued infec tive arthritis, The infection was eliminated from the other 20 cases a nd six of the horses returned to full athletic use. Eight of nine calv es with E-type infective arthritis and osteomyelitis returned to their intended food production or breeding programmes.