Navicular bone disease: results of treatment using egg-bar shoeing technique.

Summary

# Editorial Summary: Navicular Disease and Egg-Bar Shoeing Navicular disease remains one of the most challenging diagnoses in equine practice, yet Ostblom and colleagues challenge the prevailing assumption that it is invariably progressive and irreversible. Their 1984 study proposes a critical distinction: whilst the primary pathological process of navicular disease may be reversible, secondary changes such as adhesions to the deep flexor tendon or bone spur formation represent the true point of no return. By applying egg-bar shoeing—a technique that redistributes pressure and alters breakover mechanics—the researchers achieved permanent cessation of clinical signs in over 50% of their treated cases, suggesting that early intervention before irreversible secondary changes develop is crucial. This work has important implications for case selection and prognosis: horses presenting with early-stage navicular changes and no advanced imaging evidence of adhesions or significant spur formation may be significantly better candidates for conservative management than currently assumed. For practitioners, the findings support aggressive early shoeing intervention combined with thorough diagnostic imaging to establish whether secondary changes have already developed, potentially allowing more realistic discussions about long-term outcomes with owners.

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Key Findings

• •Egg-bar shoeing technique resulted in permanent cessation of navicular disease signs in more than 50% of treated cases
• •Primary navicular disease changes are reversible; only secondary changes (adhesions to deep flexor tendon, spur formations) are irreversible
• •Egg-bar shoeing is a practically applicable technique for managing navicular disease in clinical practice

Conditions Studied