What is IRAP?

BAKER McVEIGH is pleased to offer IRAP Therapy for your horse. IRAP is used to treat osteoarthritic conditions, to alleviate lameness. It uses your horse’s own blood to help repair the affected joint.

IRAP works by amplifying the production of anti-inflammatory and regenerative proteins already found in the patient’s own blood. The large amount of “good” proteins are then extracted and injected into the affected joint of the horse to assist in the repair and recovery of the joint.

WHAT DOES THE TREATMENT INVOLVE?

Approximately 50mls of your horse’s blood is drawn into a specially manufactured syringe  containing coated glass beads that will help to enhance production of anti-inflammatory proteins including IRAP. The syringe is incubated at 37 degrees Celsius for 24 hours before being centrifuged and the serum containing the IRAP is filtered and collected. The serum containing the IRAP is then frozen in single doses which will be injected directly into the horse’s joints which can be used over a series of 3-4 treatments. The processing of the IRAP is performed at our hospital, and the injections are administered at your stables.

Click on the video above to watch the IRAP process and administration.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES?

It is a natural anti-inflammatory protein that does not cause any damage to the joint.

Because the serum is derived from your horse’s own blood, the possibility of an adverse reaction is drastically reduced.

It can be more effective than more conventional intra-articular therapies for the treatment of joint disease.

IS YOUR HORSE A CANDIDATE FOR THIS TREATMENT?

A thorough history and examination (including radiographs) will be required by the examining  veterinarian in order to evaluate the usefulness of IRAP for your horse.  Generally speaking, IRAP will be useful in horses that have  osteoarthritis, or are recovering from arthroscopic surgery.