Objective—To compare the effects of 2 approaches and 2 injection volumes on diffusion of mepivacaine hydrochloride for local analgesia of the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve (DBLPN) in horses.
Design—Experimental study.
Animals—16 adult horses.
Subjective evaluation of the response to diagnostic analgesia of hindlimb lameness is influenced by expectation bias. Quantification of pelvic movement with inertial measurement units is possible, but it is unclear which measure of movement symmetry best reflects the changes seen after diagnostic analgesia.
Reasons for performing study
Saddle slip is usually blamed on saddle fit, crooked riders or horse shape, but may reflect hindlimb lameness. There are no studies of the frequency of occurrence of saddle slip and risk factors within a tested sample population of the general sports horse population.
Objectives
To quantify the frequency of saddle slip and to describe the association with lameness, thoracolumbar shape/symmetry, crooked riders and ill-fitting saddles.
Study design
Nonrandom, cross-sectional survey using convenience sampling.
Methods
Objective—To determine whether stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) concentrations in serum, plasma, and synovial fluid differed among untrained, race-trained, and osteochondral-injured Thoroughbred racehorses.
Animals—22 racehorses without osteochondral injury and 37 racehorses with osteochondral injury.
Summary
Reasons for performing study
Equine joint infection is a life-threatening disorder, and confirmation of the diagnosis can be difficult. Synovial fluid biomarkers may assist the discrimination between infectious and noninfectious joint disease.
Objectives
This study investigates whether the immunological detection of total and enzymatically active myeloperoxidase (MPO) assists the diagnosis of joint infection in horses.
Methods
Objective—To compare data obtained with an inertial sensor system with results of subjective lameness examinations performed by 3 experienced equine veterinarians for evaluation of lameness in horses.
Animals—106 horses.
Objective—To investigate tissue diffusion of anesthetic agent following administration of low palmar nerve blocks (LPBs) in horses. Design—Randomized clinical trial. Animals—12 adult horses. Procedures—In 9 horses, mepivacaine hydrochloride–iohexol (50:50 dilution) injections were administered bilaterally (2 or 4 mL/site) to affect the medial and lateral palmar and palmar metacarpal nerves (4 sites).
Objective
To compare agreement between a portable clinical analyzer and laboratory-based bench-top analyzer for analysis of pH, lactate, and glucose concentrations in synovial fluid.
Study Design
Prospective experimental study.
Animals
Clinically normal horses (n=8); 6 horses euthanatized for reasons unrelated to the study; 11 horses that had synoviocentesis for reasons other than sepsis; 7 horses that had synoviocentesis for evaluation of sepsis; and 2 horses without recorded clinical data. Median age of horses was 8 years (range, 1 day to 24 years).
Methods
Clinical diagnostic venography allows in vivo visualization of the digital venous system and the effects of venocompression related to foot load and laminitis pathology. Venography has predictive potential and helps the clinician anticipate and treat laminitis tissue damage before it is detectable by plain radiography. The authors describe the podiatry radiographic technique to correctly perform digital venography and the modifications they have developed. The authors provide guidelines for the interpretation of laminitis venograms in the context of laminitis chronology.
Reasons for performing study: The flexion test is used routinely as part of lameness and prepurchase examinations. However, little is known about the mechanisms that cause a positive response to a flexion test.
Objective: To determine which anatomical regions play a role in a positive outcome of a flexion test of the distal aspect of a forelimb in a nonlame horse.