2.4. Treatment Procedure
lame, swelling, inflammation, pain, lameness, colic
INFLAMMATION, HEAT
The horses were treated with a local injection of either allogeneic adipose-derived MSCs suspended in GMP-grade horse serum or with this type of serum alone, as defined through block randomization. The treatment dose was adapted to the size of the tendon lesion, as determined by B-mode ultrasonography during the initial examination (5 × 10If a horse was lame at a trot (score 1 or 2/5) during a scheduled examination or showed an increase in clinical signs of inflammation (increase in heat, pain, or swelling) compared with the previous examination, the exercise level was not further increased. If the horse had already been scheduled to trot or gallop, exercise was reduced to hand walking. In these cases, a clinical revaluation was performed three weeks later, and the level of exercise was determined depending on the respective clinical findings.If a horse was lame at a walk (score ≥ 3/5) on the day of examination, the horse received box rest and was re-evaluated 7 days later. If lameness at walk was detected on the day of re-evaluation, the standard exercise schedule was restarted from the beginning.Furthermore, the exercise schedule was adjusted in accordance with the owner if deemed necessary due to other pathologies (e.g., colic, lameness on another leg, etc.).