DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF PURPUURA HEMORRHAGIC IN EQUINE SECONDARY TO STREPTOCOCCAL ADENITIS - CASE REPORT (Atena Editora)

Abstract

The creation of horses with high zootechnical value has generated great economic interest. Among the concerns of the breeders must be the health of the animals. Diseases such as equine adenitis can have serious consequences, including hemorrhagic purpura. This paper reports a case of hemorrhagic purpura in an 8-year-old Mangalarga Marchador horse, resulting from an episode of equine adenitis. On clinical examination, the horse had a temperature of 39°C, subcutaneous edema and petechial hemorrhages in the nasal, oral and ocular mucous membranes. When asked about the history, the owner reported that twenty days before the presentation to the clinic, the horse showed respiratory symptoms, with mucopurulent inflammation in the upper respiratory tract, having been treated at the time with a single dose of pentabiotic, and recovered well, when he started to have fever and edema throughout the body. Based on what was reported, hemorrhagic purpura resulting from streptococcal infection was suspected. Therapy was established with an application of 20mg of IV dexamethasone, followed by antibiotic therapy with procaine benzylpenicillin (22,000UI/Kg) and dihydrostreptomycin (22mg/Kg IM every 24h), and phenylbutazone (2.2 mg/Kg/day EV) for 10 consecutive days. Two applications of Dimethylsulfoxide 99.2% (40ml in 1L of glucose solution/IV/24h) were made, and warm compresses were applied to the edema sites twice a day until the sixth day of treatment. To confirm the suspicion, serology was performed for Streptococcus equi which had a titre of 0.354 (negative reference value: 0.147). The horse responded well to the therapy, showing daily improvements until the complete disappearance of symptoms on the seventh day.