DESPITE the horse’s unfortunate predilection for tendon and ligament injuries of the lower limb, there is still no ‘one size fits all’ treatment solution. However, this doesn’t mean there hasn’t been significant scientific progress. In the latest virtual issue of the Equine Veterinary Journal (EVJ), guest editor Roger Smith has chosen 13 articles from the EVJ on the subject. His intention is to redress the balance of veterinary practitioners being more interested in knowing if treatments work rather than why they work. The virtual collection is free to view for 12 weeks and marks Roger’s recent appointment as president of BEVA.

Tendon and ligament disease of the distal limb and the factors affecting treatment are complex, with variation in the severity of injury and variability in outcome between similarly affected horses. Understanding the complexities of the issue should enable the development of more effective treatments in the future.

There have been major advances in tendon and ligament disease research during the past 30 years. The 13 papers published in this new EVJ collection have been selected from the past five years to show progress in three key areas: understanding why injuries occur and how they heal; progress in regenerative medicine and uncommon tendon and ligament injuries.

“The field of tendon research is generating a healthy amount of quality research to counter the commonly held belief that there is nothing better than a double helping of God and time,” said Roger Smith. “Bit by bit we are moving closer to the holy grail of ideally preventing, or successfully treating, these injuries.”

The free articles can be found by scanning the QR code to the right and will be free to view until February 27th, 2024.