Justin: Rehabilitation of a Severe Corneal Ulcer

Justin is a 9-year-old Thoroughbred gelding who was successfully showing on the hunter circuit, when he developed a severe corneal ulcer in his right eye.   Despite treatment with topical ointments, the ulcer worsened.  It developed a fungal infection which caused it to enlarge and deepen, putting the eye at risk for rupture. 

Justin was referred to a hospital and taken to surgery to have a conjunctival graft sutured in place over the ulcer. This type of graft helps damaged cornea to heal by bringing in blood supply and by acting as a physical bandage.

A sub-palpebral lavage (SPL) system was placed to facilitate frequent administration of medications into the eye. An SPL is a long, flexible tube which is inserted into the upper or lower eyelid and is sutured into place. The other end of the tube is typically secured into the mane and allows administration of medication without having to touch the horse’s eye or face. Typically, horses tolerate this method of medicating much better than direct administration of ointments into the eye. Unfortunately, Justin’s pain was challenging to control and he became difficult and dangerous for the staff to treat even with the SPL. He was sent to VRSVA to see if we could help.

As soon as Justin arrived, we placed a targeted pulsed electromagnetic field (tPEMF) device, called the Assisi loop, on his halter. This device uses low level pulses of energy to reduce pain and swelling, to improve circulation and to accelerate healing by stimulating the nitric oxide pathway.

Within a few hours, we were able to administer Justin’s medications through his SPL. Each time we entered his stall, we turned on his PEMF therapy and in this way, we were able to administer treatments six times daily, as prescribed. He started to look forward to us coming into his stall. We left the Assisi loop on Justin’s halter for two weeks.  His pain levels improved significantly and he became easy to work with again.   

Justin’s conjunctival graft survived and his corneal ulcer healed. He maintained vision in his eye and was able to go back to the same level of showing he had before. We are so happy to have been able to help this sweet boy!