Non-antibiotic treatment of equine endometritis

Equine endometritis is an important cause of infertility, associated with major economic losses to the horse industry worldwide. An evolving understanding of the complexity of the disease has resulted in new treatment approaches to combat the effect on fertility through alternative non-antibiotic therapies. The objective of this article is to review some of the commonly used non-antibiotic treatment options for equine endometritis. The most recent literature on treatment options with non-antibiotic antimicrobials, immune-modulators, ecbolics and other treatments such as uterine lavage and stem cell therapy is reviewed. It is concluded that a great variety of treatment options are available to the clinician, but only a few have been tested and proven beneficial under controlled conditions. Fashionable treatments that are used without having been critically tested may represent a potential threat to the integrity of the veterinary profession, and the clinician should at a minimum have sufficient information to support the safety of the product, both for the horse and the health of the endometrium.