Kinetic Analysis in Horses With Deep Digital Flexor Tendinopathy Within the Digit Diagnosed by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

This study carefully examines the stance duration and ground reaction forces in horses suffering from deep digital flexor tendinopathy in order to gain a better understanding of the condition and compare the findings to those from healthy horses.

Research Objectives

• The primary goal of this study was to investigate stance duration and ground reaction forces (GRF) of horses diagnosed with deep digital flexor (DDF) tendinopathy, a common but poorly understood condition that affects horses’ feet.
• The study involved analyzing kinetic variables in both affected horses and clinically sound horses, comparing the results to improve understanding of how DDF tendinopathy alters normal behaviour.
• Another key aim of this work was to determine if the observed changes in kinetic variables could be used to identify DDF tendinopathy in horses, potentially leading to more effective diagnosis methods in the future.

Methodology

• The study was a prospective clinical examination involving sixteen horses. Seven horses showed bilateral forelimb lameness, four exhibited unilateral forelimb lameness, and five horses showed no lameness.
• Kinetic variables were analyzed from forelimbs of both affected and healthy horses. Specific variables assessed included stance duration and longitudinal and vertical components of the GRF. Separate Spearman correlation analyses were carried out to assess possible associations within different groups, while analysis of variance was used to identify differences in kinetic variables between groups.

Findings

• Out of the total participating horses, eleven were identified as lame. Among these, seven horses had bilateral forelimb lameness and four had unilateral lameness. A total of 15 DDF tendinopathies were identified in these horses, with variations in the nature and location of the tendinopathies.
• Compared to healthy horses, the most affected limbs of horses with DDF tendinopathy had significantly smaller values for peak vertical force and time of peak breaking force.
• Additionally, these limbs also demonstrated a significantly larger time for peak vertical force compared to clinically sound horses’ limbs.

Conclusions

• These results suggest chronic DDF tendinopathies in horses lead to specific alterations in GRF parameters. Hence, these could be potentially used in future studies to determine if specific kinetic changes can be diagnostic for DDF tendinopathies in horses, which would be important for early diagnosis and effective treatment.