Omneity® Pellets
All-In-One Vitamin & Mineral Pellet
Topic:Lameness
Lameness in horses is a condition characterized by an abnormal gait or stance due to pain or mechanical dysfunction affecting the limbs or spine. It is a common issue in equine practice and can result from a variety of causes, including injury, infection, or degenerative diseases. Lameness can affect a horse's performance and quality of life, making accurate diagnosis and management important for equine health. Diagnostic techniques often include physical examination, imaging, and gait analysis. This page aggregates peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the etiology, diagnostic methods, and management strategies for lameness in horses.
Physical examination of horses with back pain. The diagnosis of back pain is often a diagnosis of exclusion of other problems in the face of poor performance. It requires careful observation, thought, an open mind, and experience. The signs of back pain can be extremely variable and range from subtle to obvious. Obvious forelimb or hind limb lameness is not usually a sign of back pain. The most common differential diagnosis may be back pain secondary to degenerative joint disease of the hocks, fetlocks, or stifle. These diseases can mimic signs of back pain including lack of impulsion, shortening of the stride length, and change in the str...
Palmar digital vessel relaxation in healthy horses and in horses given carbohydrate. To compare in vitro smooth muscle relaxation of palmar digital vessels from healthy horses with those from horses in the prodromal stage of experimentally (carbohydrate) induced laminitis. Methods: 16 adult horses. Methods: Segments of palmar digital vessels were obtained from 5 healthy horses and 6 horses given carbohydrate. Vascular rings from the palmar digital artery and vein were suspended in individual organ baths containing buffer solution and indomethacin; isometric tension was recorded, and contraction and relaxation were compared. Smooth muscle contraction in response to cumulative a...
Pathologic changes in the lumbosacral vertebrae and pelvis in Thoroughbred racehorses. To describe the prevalence, characteristics, and severity of soft-tissue and osseous lesions in the caudal portion of the thoracic and lumbosacral vertebral column and pelvis in Thoroughbred racehorses. Methods: 36 Thoroughbred racehorses that died or were euthanatized at California racetracks between October 1993 and July 1994. Methods: Lumbosacral and pelvic specimens were collected and visually examined for soft-tissue and osseous lesions. Results: Acute sacroiliac joint injury was observed in 2 specimens. Signs of chronic laxity or subluxation of the sacroiliac joint were not observed in a...
Methods, applications and limitations of gait analysis in horses. Over the last 30 years, the increase in interest in horses for racing and riding activities has stimulated scientific research in equine locomotion. This paper presents a review of the measurement methods and their applications used to assess equine locomotion. After describing gaits and velocity-related changes in stride variables, the current applications of gait analysis are presented. The economic consequences of lameness justifies the great effort now being put into lameness quantification and prevention. To improve breeding and reduce the costs of training, early performance evaluation t...
Deep digital flexor tenotomy as a treatment for chronic laminitis in horses: 35 cases (1988-1997). To determine long-term prognosis for horses with laminitis treated by deep digital flexor (DDF) tenotomy and to identify factors affecting success of the surgical procedure. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 35 horses with laminitis treated by DDF tenotomy between 1988 and 1997. Methods: Information was obtained from individual medical records and follow-up telephone interviews with owners and referring veterinarians. Cumulative proportions of horses that survived 6 months and 2 years after tenotomy were determined. Effect of Obel grade of lameness on 6-month and 2-year survival and effec...
The effect of orthopaedic shoeing on the force exerted by the deep digital flexor tendon on the navicular bone in horses. This study quantifies both the intended effect of orthopaedic shoeing to decrease the load on the navicular bone and the eventual undesired effects on gait performance. The compressive force exerted by the deep digital flexor tendon on the navicular bone and on the quality of the trot and redistribution of forces over the flexor tendons and the suspensory ligament were studied as a function of orthopaedic shoeing in 12 sound Dutch Warmblood horses. A modified CODA-3 gait analysis system and a force plate were used to quantify objectively the load on the lower limb. The quality of the trot was ...
Endoscopy of the navicular bursa: a new technique for the treatment of contaminated and septic bursae. A technique for evaluation of the navicular bursa using a 4 mm 25 degrees inclined view arthroscope is described. This allows examination of the palmar/plantar surface of the navicular bone, the insertions of the navicular suspensory, T and impar ligaments, the bursal synovium and the dorsal surface of the deep digital flexor tendon. The technique was used in 16 horses with punctures of the navicular bursa. Procedures facilitated by the technique were bursal lavage, removal of pannus, synovial resection and debridement of lesions on the palmar/plantar surface of the bone and in the deep digita...
Tenosynovitis associated with longitudinal tears of the digital flexor tendons in horses: a report of 20 cases. The paper describes a series of cases with longitudinal tears in the superficial or deep digital flexor tendons within the digital flexor tendon sheath. This appears to be a previously unreported condition. Twenty cases are described, one horse was affected bilaterally. Nineteen defects involved the deep digital flexor tendon and in 2 horses the manica flexoria of the superficial digital flexor tendon was torn. All affected horses were lame and there was marked distension of the digital flexor tendon sheaths. Ultrasonography revealed nonspecific signs of chronic tenosynovitis but not the cause...
Equine laminitis basement membrane pathology: loss of type IV collagen, type VII collagen and laminin immunostaining. Disintegration of the basement membrane (BM) of the equine hoof lamellae and failure of the BM to remain attached to the basal cells of the secondary epidermal lamellae (SEL) is one of the earliest pathological events to occur in acute laminitis. Changes in the lamellar basement membrane were investigated by immunolabelling the key structural components of the BM, type IV collagen, type VII collagen and laminin in the lamellar BM of horses 48 h after the induction of laminitis. Lamellar tissues were harvested from 2 normal horses and 2 horses with acute laminitis. Immunostaining with antibody ...
Batimastat (BB-94) inhibits matrix metalloproteinases of equine laminitis. A method for culturing explants of lamellar hoof was developed to investigate the process of lamellar separation that occurs in laminitis. Explants, consisting of hoof wall, dermal and epidermal lamellae and the adjacent sub-lamellar connective tissue remained intact when cultured in tissue culture medium for 2 days. However, when cultured in the presence of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activator aminophenylmercuric acetate (APMA), the lamellae separated when tension was applied by pulling the hoof wall in an opposite direction to the connective tissue. The separation occurred between th...
Effect of hoof trimming on the occurrence of distal phalangeal palmar process fractures in foals. This study sought to determine if extensive trimming of the front hooves of foals results in a higher incidence of palmar process fractures compared to untrimmed foals, and to characterise the clinical course of foals with palmar process fractures with physical findings, hoof measurements and radiography. Twenty foals age 4-8 weeks of multiple breeds were examined every 2 weeks over a 12 week period. Ten foals had both front hooves extensively trimmed every 4 weeks, while 10 foals remained untrimmed. Palmar process fractures occurred in 4 trimmed and 3 untrimmed foals. Four foals with fracture...
Equine laminitis: its development coincides with increased sublamellar blood flow. The effect of alimentary carbohydrate overload on hoof temperature was investigated to determine the state of the sublamellar vasculature preceding the onset of equine laminitis. Hoof, core and ambient temperatures and heart rate were logged continuously in 21 mature Standardbred horses kept in an environmental chamber set at 10 degrees C. Recording hoof temperature was a successful, noninvasive, method to measure indirectly, shifts in digital blood flow against a background of cold induced, physiological, vasoconstriction. High hoof temperatures were assumed to indicate digital vasodilation a...
Decreased glucose metabolism causes separation of hoof lamellae in vitro: a trigger for laminitis? Explants of horses' hooves remained intact for up to 8 days when incubated in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium (D-MEM) containing 25 mmol/l glucose but separated within 36 h when incubated in saline. The separation occurred between the basal epidermal cells and their basement membrane which is characteristic of the hoof separation that occurs in laminitis. Separation of hoof explants was prevented by addition of glucose to saline and was induced by adding 2-deoxyglucose or aminophenylmercuric acetate to D-MEM. Glucose consumption by the hoof explants was inhibited by 2-deoxyglucose and aminoph...
Digital perfusion, evaluated scintigraphically, and hoof wall growth in horses with chronic laminitis treated with egg bar-heart bar shoeing and coronary grooving. Nuclear scintigraphy was used to assess digital perfusion before and after treatment in 10 horses with clinical and radiographic evidence of chronic laminitis. Horses were evaluated for lameness, degree of distal phalanx rotation, and heel-toe hoof wall growth ratio, and randomly divided into two treatment groups. Group 1 horses received only egg bar-heart bar shoeing; Group 2 underwent egg bar-heart bar shoeing and coronary grooving. Horses were re-evaluated for digital perfusion, lameness, degree of distal phalanx rotation, and hoof wall growth at 6 week intervals over the 18 week follow-up ...
Fetal development of the white line (Zona alba) of the equine hoof. The fetal development of the white line (Zona alba) in the equine hoof is described. Its specific structure of lamellar and interlamellar horn, which in turn is composed of cap and terminal horn, is formed in the second half of the hoof's fetal development. In equine fetuses with a crown-rump length of less than 550 mm, the hoof capsule lacks a 'characteristic' white line since no borders between stratum medium, stratum internum and sole horn are discernible. In the hoof of an equine fetus with a crown-rump length of 550 mm, a narrow white line has taken shape. Its shallow lamellae are arrange...
Culture and characterization of equine terminal arch endothelial cells and hoof keratinocytes. To develop methods to isolate, culture, and characterize equine hoof endothelial cells (EC) and keratinocytes. Methods: Cells harvested from the forelimbs of 8 horses. Methods: EC were obtained via catheters placed in the palmar digital arteries of the disarticulated lower portion of the forelimbs from 4 horses that had been heparinized prior to euthanasia. Phosphate-buffered saline solution was used to remove and discard RBC from blood vessels, and collagenase was used to loosen and flush EC from the vasculature. Hoof keratinocytes were obtained from 4 recently euthanatized horses by use of d...
Instability-induced osteoarthritis in the metacarpophalangeal joint of horses. To establish an instability model of osteoarthritis (OA) that mimics the early changes of naturally acquired OA. Methods: 6 mature radiographically normal horses. Procedure-The collateral and lateral collateral sesamoidean ligaments were transected in a metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint in each horse. Lameness examinations were performed every 7 days after surgery for 8 weeks. Radiographs were taken immediately before and after desmotomy and 8 weeks after surgery. Eight weeks after surgery, bilateral MCP joints were grossly evaluated, specimens of articular cartilage were harvested for histologi...
[Diagnostic validity of thermography of lameness in horses]. Thirty-six lameness free horses and 119 horses with lameness of the distal forelimb including the carpus were evaluated through thermography. Examination was done with an infrared thermography camera "Thermovision 470" and a specially developed analyzing software program. Temperature differences between corresponding regions of the left and right forelimb were determined and scrutinized statistically between various lameness groups. By creating temperature differences between both limbs a parameter for skin temperature was found which is independent of surrounding temperature. In lameness free...
Effects of 6alpha-methylprednisolone acetate on an equine osteochondral fragment exercise model. To determine effects of intra-articularly administered 6alpha-methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) in exercised horses with carpal osteochondral fragmentation. Methods: 18 horses: 3 groups of 6 each. Methods: An osteochondral (chip) fragment was created in 1 randomly chosen middle carpal joint of each horse. Polyionic fluid (PF) was injected into both middle carpal joints of horses in the control group. In horses of the MPA-control group, MPA was injected into the middle carpal joint without an osteochondral fragment; a similar volume of PF was injected into the contralateral middle carpal joint. ...
Kinematics of the equine back: a method to study the thoracolumbar flexion-extension movements at the trot. This study was conducted to evaluate a method for quantifying the flexion-extension movements of the back of horses trotting on a track in the conditions of the clinical lameness examination. Using a 3-D kinematic analysis system, the successive positions of four markers placed at regular intervals between the withers and the tuber sacrale were recorded. To isolate the flexion-extension movements of the back, the positions of these four markers were recomputed in a trunk-related co-ordinate system of the horse. Then, for each frame, the equation of the third-order polynomial that best fitted t...
Septic osteitis of the distal phalanx: findings and surgical treatment in 18 cases. Eighteen cases of septic osteitis of the distal phalanx were diagnosed clinically and confirmed at surgery over a 6 year period (1990-1996). Focal bone lysis was the most common radiographic finding. Sequestra were identified in 4 horses, one of which was associated with a fractured plantar process. All the horses were treated surgically with open debridement. The septic process recurred in 4 horses: one was subjected to euthanasia due to navicular bursa infection, secondary to a pathological fracture, the other 3 horses responded to further debridement. A pathological fracture occurred in ano...
Endoscopy of the calcaneal bursa in horses. To describe endoscopic approaches to the calcaneal bursa and clinical findings in 2 horses with calcaneal bursitis. Methods: Cadaver evaluations and retrospective case reports. Methods: 12 cadavers and 2 adult horses. Methods: Cadaver specimens of the calcaneal bursa were evaluated with a rigid arthroscope and gross dissection to determine the endoscopic appearance of anatomic structures located within the bursa. The site(s) for placement of the arthroscope and instrument(s) was determined based on cadaver dissection and endoscopic examination. Results: Placement of the arthroscope 1 cm dorsal...
Intra-articular pressure, elastance and range of motion in healthy and injured racehorse metacarpophalangeal joints. The objective of this study was to determine if intraarticular pressure, elastance of the soft tissue forming the dorsal pouch, and range of motion in flexion measurements are significantly different in Thoroughbred metacarpophalangeal joints with clinical evidence of idiopathic synovitis, primary synovitis, synovitis/capsulitis, or osteoarthritis relative to clinically normal joints. Forty-two metacarpophalangeal joints, in 25 active or retired Thoroughbred racehorses, were categorised by palpation and visual inspection of the palmar pouch into one of 4 increasing grades of distention. Intra-...
Abnormal bone scan findings of the equine ischial tuberosity and third trochanter. Obtaining high-quality radiographs of the proximal aspect of equine limbs is difficult because of the large muscles in these regions. The use of scintigraphy may provide further information. Abnormal bone scan findings of the ischial tuberosity or the third trochanter were found in 29 adult horses with obscure hind limb lameness between 1986 and 1996 at the Large Animal Clinic of the University of Bern. Each had abnormal radiopharmaceutical uptake but not all had radiographic changes. Radiopharmaceutical uptake ratios between the ischial tuberosity and the greater trochanter were calculated. T...
Endoscopic treatment of suspected infectious intertubercular bursitis in a horse. A 9-year-old gelding was evaluated because of a 30-day history of mild intermittent left forelimb lameness. The only detectable abnormality was mild atrophy of the musculature of the proximal portion of the left forelimb. The cause of the lameness could not be determined. The horse was discharged from the hospital, but was reexamined 6 weeks later because of worsening of the lameness. At that time, the horse resisted flexion and extension of the left shoulder joint, and results of evaluation of an ultrasound-guided aspirate of fluid from the intertubercular bursa were suggestive of infection. ...
Shoulder joint luxation in large animals: 14 cases (1976-1997). To determine clinical and radiographic findings in and treatment and outcome of large animals with shoulder joint luxations. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 5 horses, 3 goats, 1 calf, 1 sheep, 1 Himalayan tahr, 1 pot-bellied pig, 1 reindeer, and 1 white-tailed deer. Methods: Medical records and radiographs were reviewed to determine signalment, history, physical examination findings, type of luxation, treatment, and outcome. Owners and referring veterinarians were contracted for follow-up information. Results: Goats, sexually intact males, and animals < 1 year old were overrepresente...
Transient alteration in intestinal permeability to technetium Tc99m diethylenetriaminopentaacetate during the prodromal stages of alimentary laminitis in ponies. To determine whether mucosal permeability is altered during the prodromal stages of alimentary laminitis. Methods: 15 healthy adult ponies. Methods: intestinal permeability was evaluated for control ponies (n = 5) and for ponies 4 to 12 (n = 5) and 20 to 28 (n = 5) hours after administration of carbohydrate overload. Mucosal permeability was determined by measuring the percentage of orally administered technetium Tc99m diethylenetriaminopentaacetate (99mTc-DTPA) excreted in urine during an 8-hour period, then measuring blood radioactivity at hourly intervals. Plasma endotoxin-like activity was...
Evaluation of mild lameness in horses trotting on a treadmill by clinicians and interns or residents and correlation of their assessments with kinematic gait analysis. To estimate sensitivity and accuracy of subjective evaluation of mild lameness in horses during treadmill locomotion and to correlate subjective evaluation with kinematic analysis. Methods: 19 lame and 5 clinically normal horses. Methods: Lameness was evaluated by subjective score and kinematic analysis before and after palmar digital nerve block (PDNB). Evaluations were made by 6 clinicians and 7 interns or residents. Within- and between-observer agreement analyses (kappa values) were calculated and compared, using a Student's t-test. Pearson's product-moment correlation coefficients were cal...
Results of bone scintigraphy in horses used for show jumping, hunting, or eventing: 141 cases (1988-1994). To determine anatomic patterns and clinical importance of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake in bones of horses used for show jumping, hunting, and eventing. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 141 horses evaluated because of lameness. Methods: Medical records were reviewed, and information on results of physical examination, radiography, and scintigraphy were obtained. Scintigrams were evaluated to identify areas of increased radio-pharmaceutical uptake. Results: 834 areas of increased radiopharmaceutical uptake were identified. Scintigraphy of the vertebral column was performed in 78 ho...
Localisation of gelatinase activity in epidermal hoof lamellae by in situ zymography. In situ gelatin zymography is a technique, which utilises a gelatin-based emulsion overlay to detect and, more importantly, localise the gelatinase activity in underlying tissue. Gelatinase A [matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2)] and gelatinase B [matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9)] are present in equine hoof homogenates and supernatants from cultured hoof explants by SDS-PAGE gelatin zymography, and it has been assumed that the enzymes are derived solely from matrix and epithelia and not from other sources such as leucocytes. Using in situ zymography, gelatinases are shown to be localised with...
