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.
A local anaesthetic agent capable of temporarily resolving lameness after being administered perineurally would be helpful because rapid return of lameness would allow for other analgesic techniques to be performed within a short period of time.
Controversy exists about the desensitisation obtained after diagnostic analgesia of the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) during lameness examinations.
To determine whether DFTS analgesia results in inadvertent desensitisation of the palmar/plantar digital nerves and whether this depends on the injection technique used.
Summary
Reasons for performing study
Artefacts caused by regional anaesthesia can influence image interpretation of ultrasonography and nuclear scintigraphy. Perineural and intrasynovial anaesthesia are commonly performed prior to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); and the effects on MR images, if any, are unknown.
Objectives
To determine if perineural and intrasynovial anaesthesia of structures in the equine foot cause iatrogenic changes detectable with MRI.
Methods
Objective
To assess the effects of an intra-articular (IA) lidocaine or bupivacaine injection on synovial fluid (SF) biomarkers of cartilage metabolism.
Study Design
Experimental.
Animals
Horses (n = 6).
Methods
Reasons for performing study: The sensitivity of ultrasonography for the diagnosis of manica flexoria (MF) tears within the digital flexor tendon sheath (DFTS) is lower than for diagnosis of marginal tears of the deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT). Additional diagnostic tools would assist in appropriate decision making for either conservative or surgical management.
Objectives: To evaluate the improvement in lameness of horses with MF or DDFT tears following intrathecal analgesia and to assess the sensitivity and specificity of contrast radiography for the diagnosis of these tears.
Reasons for performing study: The role of the communicating branch between the medial and lateral palmar nerves of horses (i.e. the ramus communicans) in conveying sensory impulses proximally should be determined to avoid errors in interpreting diagnostic anaesthesia of the palmar nerves.
Hypothesis: Sensory nerve fibres in the ramus communicans of horses pass proximally from the lateral palmar nerve to merge with the medial palmar nerve, but not vice versa.
Objective: To determine the direction of sensory impulses through the ramus communicans between lateral and medial palmar nerves.
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).
We have observed focal skeletal muscle uptake of 99mTechnetium-hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (Tc-HDP), which could mimic a tibial lesion, in horses following peroneal nerve blocks. To characterize this observation further, 45 bone phase scintigrams were performed in 12 horses undergoing peroneal nerve blocks. Scans were performed before, and 1, 3, 7, and 14 days postblock. The superficial and deep branches of the peroneal nerve were blocked by injecting 10 ml of 2% mepivacaine in one limb and 20 ml in the other.