Topic:Scar Tissue
Scar tissue in horses refers to the fibrous tissue that forms as a result of the body's natural healing process following an injury or surgery. This tissue replaces normal skin, muscle, or other tissues that have been damaged. Scar tissue is composed primarily of collagen, a protein that provides structural support. While it serves to protect and repair injured areas, it often lacks the flexibility and functionality of the original tissue. In horses, scar tissue can impact movement and performance, depending on its location and extent. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the formation, characteristics, and implications of scar tissue in equine health and performance.
Percutaneous ultrasonic debridement of equine tendinopathy and desmopathy: A report of 10 cases. Tendinopathy and desmopathy are significant causes of morbidity in horses. To evaluate the use of percutaneous ultrasonic debridement (PUD) as a treatment for chronic tendinopathy and desmopathy in the horse. Eight adult horses with 10 affected limbs presented for lameness, ranging from 60-700 days postinjury. Diagnostic ultrasound identified the following: suspensory branch desmitis ( = 1), suspensory body desmitis ( = 2), Achilles tendinopathy ( = 1), desmitis of the accessory ligament of the deep digital flexor (DDF) tendon ( = 1), DDF tendinopathy ( = 2), and superficial digital flexor ten...
[Therapy of bullous pemphigoid in a Warmblood gelding]. A 15-year-old Warmblood gelding was presented with multiple large, ulcerative, and crusty dermal lesions that had been existing for 4 years. Histopathology of a skin biopsy revealed cleft formation at the dermal-epidermal junction beneath the basal cells and above the basement membrane leading to the diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid. Immunosuppressive therapy with dexamethasone and azathioprine was initiated and after 14 weeks full remission of the ulcers was achieved. Scar tissue formation was evident in the areas of the formerly affected lesions. Following medication tapering over a perio...
A preliminary study of diagnostic color Doppler ultrasonography in equine superficial digital flexor tendonitis. We hypothesized that semi-quantitative determinations of changeable blood flows in granulation and scar tissues during tendon healing could be helpful for differentiation between the acute phase rich in blood vessels and the remodeling phase with fewer vessels. Ten Thoroughbreds with injured superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) in a forelimb were used for evaluation of blood flows in the injured tendons of racehorses using color Doppler (CD) ultrasonography. Using longitudinal CD images, features of maximum color activities were defined. These were rhythmically blinking, tiny to small sign...
Regenerative medicine for tendinous and ligamentous injuries of sport horses. After tendon injury, the scar tissue that replaces the damaged tendon results in a substantial risk for reinjury. The goal of regenerative therapies is to restore normal structural architecture and biomechanical function to an injured tissue. Successful restoration processes for any tissue are thought to recapitulate those of development, in which there are spatial and temporal interactions between scaffold, growth factors, and cell populations.
Actinomyces species as a cause of abscesses in nine horses. The characteristics, history, clinical signs, treatment and outcome of nine horses with abscesses caused by Actinomyces species were reviewed. dna sequencing was used to determine the species of one of the isolates. The horses were one to 11 years of age, and the abscesses were most commonly located in the submandibular and retropharyngeal regions. The bacterium was usually cultured as the sole isolate and the horses were most often affected in the autumn. Most of the abscesses were treated with antimicrobials and drainage, but some of them recurred. The horses with submandibular abscesses had...
Surgical correction of ear curling caused by scar tissue formation in a horse. An 18-month-old Belgian Warmblood mare was evaluated because it had injured the outer convex aspect of the left auricle. Second intention healing of the wound area caused tissue contracture, which resulted in the tip of the ear curling backward. By use of a technique involving undermining of the skin and a flap of granulation tissue on the medial aspect of the wound area and multiple incisions of the auricular cartilage, the curling was relieved and the ear regained a more normal shape. A skin graft was applied to cover the existing wound defect in an attempt to accelerate wound healing; therm...
Computerized ultrasonographic tissue characterization of equine superficial digital flexor tendons by means of stability quantification of echo patterns in contiguous transverse ultrasonographic images. To describe a method of computerized ultrasonographic tissue characterization that includes structures below the size limits of resolution in equine superficial digital flexor tendons. Methods: 2 damaged and 2 structurally normal superficial digital flexor tendons. Methods: Transverse ultrasonographic images were collected along the tendon long axis. Stability of echo pattern was quantified by means of variation in gray levels of each pixel in contiguous images and expressed as correlation, entropy, and waviness ratios. Results: Normal young and normal old tissues were characterized by high co...
Treatment of superficial digital flexor tendinitis. This article reviews the research and clinical findings relevant to the treatment of acute tendinitis in the horse. The goals of treatment are to reduce inflammation, minimize scar tissue formation, and promote restoration of normal tendon function. A wide variety of treatments have and still are being used to treat tendinitis, which indicates that there is no uniformly successful way to return a horse to full athletic function after injury. Therapy depends on the severity of tendinitis and duration of injury and can be divided into treatment during the inflammatory, repair, and maturation pha...
Healing of transected equine superficial digital flexor tendons with and without tenorrhaphy. Healing of transected superficial digital flexor tendons was evaluated mechanically and histologically in eight horses. Tendons sutured with polyglyconate had higher loads at failure than nonsutured tendons at weeks 5 and 9. The tendon stress at failure (force per unit area) was higher in the sutured tendons at week 5 but not at week 9, reflecting the increased size of the scar at week 9. Histologically, scars after tenorrhaphy were consistently more mature than nonsutured tenotomy scars. The mean maturity score for sutured tendons was higher than for nonsutured tendons at weeks 5 and 9. Overa...
Studies on the pathogenesis of equine tendonitis following collagenase injury. The histological and morphological characteristics of the scar tissue formed during healing after traumatic equine tendon injury have been compared with those of scar tissue produced in response to an enzyme-induced pony tendon injury. Several techniques are currently in use in the treatment of equine tendon sprain and this work formed part of a study of their respective efficacy. It was concluded that the enzyme-induced lesion is resolved by a reparative process very similar in its prognosis and extent to that following a naturally occurring tendon sprain. It may therefore justifiably be used...