Clinical examination in horses involves a systematic evaluation of the animal to assess its health status and identify any potential medical issues. This process typically includes a thorough physical assessment, which may cover observation of behavior and posture, palpation of body structures, auscultation of heart and lung sounds, and examination of the skin, eyes, and mucous membranes. Additional diagnostic tools such as thermography, endoscopy, or imaging techniques may be utilized to gather more detailed information. Clinical examination serves as a foundational step in veterinary diagnostics, aiding in the detection and management of diseases or injuries in horses. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore methodologies, advancements, and findings related to clinical examination practices in equine medicine.
van de Velde LF.The present author's practice was offered the opportunity of testing a so-called buffy-coat analyser of the firm of Becton & Dickinson for its use in the field. He does not deny readers the report of his preliminary experience. In addition, the interpretation of the results and the limitations of the apparatus are briefly discussed.
Bertone AL.Second-intention healing (contraction and epithelization) is most appropriate for heavily traumatized, contaminated wounds that may have a prolonged debridement phase. Therapy during healing can promote rapid debridement and faster healing. Healing of lower limb wounds by second intention may be protracted, owing to poorer wound contraction and excessive granulation tissue production as compared with body wounds.
Freeman DE.Wounds of the esophagus and trachea are uncommon, but closed wounds can be difficult to diagnose and treat. Esophageal wounds are the more serious and can be life-threatening; however, appropriate surgical and medical treatment applied without delay can be successful in some cases, especially in full-thickness longitudinal wounds. Tracheal wounds are usually less severe, but the high risk of iatrogenic injuries to the trachea should be recognized. Also, tracheal injuries can limit the athletic potential of a horse.
Booth LC.Delayed closure is an underutilized technique that can produce a good cosmetic result in lower leg wounds and can significantly shorten the healing time. To be successful, the surgeon should be able to utilize tension-relieving techniques and manage dead space. Scar revision should be limited to simple elliptical excision or modifications thereof until experience is developed. Sliding skin flaps, Z-plasties, and W-plasties are used infrequently and require adequate preoperative planning.
Crane SA, Ziemer EL, Sweeney CR.Thirty-eight tracheobronchial aspirates (TBA) were collected from twenty 1 to 6-month-old foals, which were free of clinical signs of respiratory tract or other infectious disease. We collected TBA from 9 of the foals 3 times when they were approximately 8, 16, and 24 weeks old. Aspirates were examined cytologically after staining with modified Wright-Giemsa, Gram, toluidine blue, and prussian blue stains. Aerobic bacterial culturing was performed on all aspirates. Of the 20 initial TBA, 4 (20%) were normal cytologically on the basis of previously defined criteria for TBA from clinically norma...
Juul SM.During the period from 1.1. to 31.12.1988, 104 patients with injuries resulting from riding or other forms of direct contact with horses were examined and treated in a casualty department in the County of Vejle. Antecedent data from these patients were collected. The majority of injuries occurred on falling from the horse and involved particularly the upper part of the body. The commonest injuries were bruises which did not require special treatment. The relationships between concussion, fracture of the humerus and fracture of the clavicle and riding were investigated by odds ratio. Much fewer...
Ducharme NG, Pascoe PJ, Lumsden JH, Ducharme GR.In order to determine which variables are useful in identifying horses with abdominal pain requiring surgery, data were analysed from 219 horses presented at one veterinary teaching hospital. Using multiple stepwise discriminant analysis with a recursive partitioning algorithm, we obtained a decision tree that identifies surgical and non-surgical patients. The prevalence of surgical patients was 79 per cent in this population. The sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values of this decision tree were 99 per cent, 55 per cent, 90 per cent and 99 per cent respectively. ...
Collatos C, Reef VB, Richardson DW.An abscess of the external umbilical remnant and umbilical vein remnant was diagnosed in a 16-month-old colt, using ultrasonography. Because of the colt's size, primary closure of the surgical incision after umbilical cord resection was not complete. Vertical mattress stainless steel sutures and stents were used, and healing was by second intention. Intervening gas-filled viscera made it impossible to visualize ultrasonographically the bladder of umbilical artery remnants in a colt of this age.
Bello TR.A controlled test was performed to titrate the anthelmintic dosage of dienbendazole in 24 mixed-breed ponies naturally infected with Strongylus vulgaris, S edentatus, and small strongyle species, as determined by parasitic egg and larval counts in feces. Comparison of results of treatment was made among 3 dienbendazole dosages--2.5, 5, and 10 mg/kg of body weight--and a gum (excipient) mixture given by nasogastric intubation. All ponies were euthanatized and necropsied at 7 or 8 days after treatment. Trichostrongylus axei, Habronema muscae, S vulgaris, S edentatus, small strongyles, and Oxyuri...
Wallace KD, Selcer BA, Becht JL.Transrectal ultrasonography was successfully used to image the cranial mesenteric artery and its branches in 23 adult horses. The artery could be imaged from its origin at the aorta distally to identify several bifurcations. The method for transrectal imaging of the cranial mesenteric artery and its major branches required 3 distinct transducer positions. One position was used to locate the cranial mesenteric artery by imaging the caudal portion of the aorta from the aortic bifurcation cranially to the level of the cranial mesenteric artery. The second position was used to image the origin of ...
Nappert G, Vrins A, Breton L, Beauregard M.A retrospective study of 19 ataxic horses admitted to the College of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Montreal during the period of January 1985 to December 1988 is presented. There were 11 cases of cervical vertebral malformation, four of equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy, two of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis, one each of vertebral osteomyelitis and intervertebral disc protrusion. The clinical diagnosis of ataxia in horses requires neurological, radiographic, myelographic, and laboratory examinations.
Cudd TA, Mayhew IG, Cottrill CM.DORSAL midline dysgenesis of the human brain, a complex
pattern of maldevelopment of sulcation and neuronal migration
occurring before 74 days gestation, has been recognised for over
fifty years. The association (68 per cent) of the so-called Dandy-
Walker syndrome (cystic dilatation of the fourth ventricle and
hypoplasia of the cerebellum) with other brain malformations is
common and often includes agenesis of the corpus callosum
(Hart, Malamud and Ellis 1972; Ral et a1 1980). This report
describes the first pre-mortem identification of such a structural
brain anomaly in a Thoroughbr...
Tulamo RM, Bramlage LR, Gabel AA.Infectious arthritis was induced experimentally in one tarsocrural joint of six horses by intra-articular injection of 1 ml Staphylococcus aureus-saline suspension with the addition of 200 mg methylprednisolone acetate. The corresponding contralateral joint was injected with 1 ml of saline with the addition of 200 mg methylprednisolone acetate, and served as a control. The purpose of the experiment was to examine the effect of corticosteroids on the acute clinical signs of infectious arthritis, and the associated changes in synovial fluid, to separate the effects of a steroid injection from th...
Tulamo RM, Bramlage LR, Gabel AA.Infectious arthritis was induced experimentally in one tarsocrural joint of six horses by intra-articular injection of 1 ml Staphylococcus-saline suspension containing 9 x 10(4) to 3 x 10(6) organisms. The corresponding contralateral joint was injected with 1 ml of saline and served as a control. The progression of the induced infectious arthritis was assessed over a nine-day period by clinical examination and sequential synovial fluid analysis with pH and lactate measurements. Changes in synovial fluid were present before clinical signs of infectious arthritis were manifested. The diagnostic ...
Rick MC.Diagnosis, evaluation, and management of the various grades of rectal tears is discussed. Surgical techniques, which include direct closure, diverting colostomies, and placement of temporary rectal liners, are detailed. Also, rectal prolapses and various methods of repair are outlined.
van den Ingh TS, Hartman EG, Bercovich Z.A Leptospira interrogans serogroup australis serovar lora infection in a stud farm is reported. During three successive years (1984-1986) clinical leptospirosis with a severe often rapid, fatal course was seen in 12 foals. Clinical examination revealed severe respiratory distress, depression and pyrexia. Other symptoms were diarrhea (2), jaundice (1), and an unsteady gait (1). Morphological characteristics of the disease were massive pulmonary haemorrhage and haemorrhagic-thrombotic or extracapillary glomerulonephritis with tubulonephrosis and interstitial oedema. In most foals high or increas...
Singh AK, Ashraf M, Granley K, Mishra U, Rao MM, Gordon B.A simple and reproducible column (Clean Screen-DAU, copolymeric bonded-phase silica column) extraction procedure has been described for the screening and confirmation of drugs in horse urine. The recovery of drugs by the column extraction was better than or comparable to the recovery by the liquid-liquid extraction, which is commonly used in the equine analytical laboratories. The column extraction provided broad coverage of drugs, separated extracts into three fractions (acidic/neutral, steroids, basic), produced a cleaner extract, and eliminated the need for special liquid-liquid extraction ...
Morris DD, Moore JN, Ward S.A study, at a university in south eastern USA, aimed to determine whether age, sex, breed, management and history differed in colic cases. A detailed history was obtained for 229 horses between January 1987 and June 1988. Causes for colic determined by clinical examination, exploratory laparotomy and/or necropsy included: gastric rupture (GR, 6); ileal impaction (II, 17); small intestinal strangulating obstruction (SIO, 22); proximal enteritis (PE, 16); transient small intestinal distension (TSID, 18); large colon displacement (LCD, 52); large colon impaction (LCI, 34); colitis (8); small colo...
Lotstra RJ, van den Broek J, Power T, Marr CM, Wijnberg ID.Atrial fibrillation is a common equine arrhythmia. Quinidine alone, or with digoxin are common treatments. Studies on outcome in Warmblood populations in which duration of the AF is often unknown are limited. Objective: To identify the factors that are associated with the success of full treatment cardioversion with oral medication, and establish whether there are differences in these factors between institutions. Methods: Retrospective case series using patient records of Equine University Clinic of Utrecht University and Rossdales Equine Hospital, Newmarket. Methods: Forty-nine horses treate...
Enbergs H.Measuring serum or plasma levels of progesterone can be used to determine if conception has occurred in horses. If the mare's progesterone level is below 2 ng/ml 18 days after mating has occurred, conception has not taken place. This method can be used as an addunct to genital examination, and it can be used to determine if hormonal irregularities are present in mares who have not been able to conceive.
Moorman GH, van Noort JH, Németh F, Breukink HJ, Gootjes P, Verzijlenberg F.A method for detection of neurectomy by electrical stimulation of the skin, distal to the neurectomy site, was tested for accuracy and feasibility. An electrical stimulation device was designed and tested to find the minimum peak voltage that would elicit a response in normal horses. Twenty seven horses were then tested at regular intervals following neurectomy and their responses recorded. Immediately following neurectomy there was an area of insensitivity with sharply defined borders extending in an arc from the back of the pastern down towards the bulbs of the heels. In the months following...
True CK, Dotzel AR.Oral endoscopy is a valuable addition to the equine dental examination process. It enables veterinarians to visualize subtle oral disorders and is a useful client education tool. There are several commercially available oral endoscopic systems on the market. Practitioners can also assemble their own systems. An oral endoscope is used to perform a thorough and systematic oral examination and to visualize normal oral structures as well as oral disorders. It is also used to guide instrument placement during oral surgeries and other dental procedures.
Miller RM.For decades after the discipline of psychiatry had been established as an accepted specialty, many medical schools continued to fail to train their students in the fundamentals of this discipline. Medical students all have at least cursory exposure to psychiatric principles and basic psychology. Unfortunately, the veterinary profession has lagged behind human medicine in this regard. Until recently, veterinary students received no training in animal behavior, and there were no available residencies within our schools for developing board-certified behavioral specialists.
Munroe G.Twenty-seven of 167 neonatal thoroughbred foals (16 per cent) were found to have retinal haemorrhages after a careful examination of the entire fundus. Experience in differentiating haemorrhages from other lesions, and the selection of foals from normal populations, were considered to have an important effect on their apparent incidence. Bilateral haemorrhages were more common and there was a significantly higher incidence in female foals. The numbers of haemorrhages ranged between one and 20; 36 per cent of eyes with retinal haemorrhages had the small punctate type and 56 per cent had the spl...
Labelle AL, Metzler AG, Wilkie DA.Neoplasia, for which surgical excision is a frequent treatment, is the most common disease of the equine nictitating membrane. There is little long-term follow-up information available to the practitioner regarding the long-term effects of nictitating membrane excision on ocular health. No information is available to compare recurrence of primary neoplasia of the nictitating membrane after excision with local or general anaesthesia. Objective: To evaluate the long-term complications of nictitating membrane resection in horses; recurrence of neoplasia of the nictitating membrane when nictitatin...