Treatment of sepsis in the small tarsal joints of 11 horses with gentamicin-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate beads

Gentamicin-impregnated polymethylmethacrylate beads were used to treat infe ctive arthritis in the small tarsal joints of 11 severely lame horses. Unde r general anaesthesia, between five and 10 beads were placed into a 7 to 8 mm tract drilled across the affected joint and, in all except one horse, th ey were left in place for 14 days. Two of the horses were euthanased for re asons other than persistent tarsal joint sepsis, but the other nine survive d and seven of them returned to their previous level of athletic performanc e.