Equine Orthopedic Examination Flashcards
(15 cards)
What is involved in an orthopedic examination?
Signalment
History
Overall assessment
Palpation
Manipulation
Diagnostics (Lameness exam is part of this)
What is in a signalment?
age
sex
breed
What is important in the history of the horse before examination?
Onset of lameness
○ Swelling, bleeding
○ Improves with rest
○ Duration of signs
○ Changes since onset
○ Use prior to and during injury
Previous tests
○ HYPP (Equine Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis), EPSM, Vitamin E (muscle atrophy/weakness), Lyme (known tick exposure), etc.
Vaccinations
○ Rabies, Lyme, Tetanus, EHV, WNV
What does the overall assessment of the orthopedic exam consist of?
From a distance (stressed, depressed)
Compare left to right
Conformation faults
§ Note, but keep in perspective
What do you feel on palpation?
Be consistent (do it the same way every time)
start with neck, down cervical vertebrae, start on withers down to the foot, palpate back, and then finally do the hind limb
Muscles
Tendons
Ligaments
Joints
Rectal
How do you manipulate the body of a horse during an examination?
Done at the same time as palpation
Firm, steady pressure
Range of motion
Back muscles
Hoof testers
What are the diagnostics during an orthopedic examination?
Lameness examination
Nerve blocks
Joint, tendon sheath or bursa blocks
Synovial fluid analysis
Imaging
Ultrasound
Radiography
Nuclear Scintigraphy
Thermography
MRI
CT-scan
How do you do a lameness examination?
Walk and trot in hand and on lunge line
Establish baseline
Watch from front, back and side
Watch turns, starts and stops
Canter is helpful for the transition phases and if they bunny hop or do other things during the canter
You can also back them up or put them on different surfaces (especially on a hard surface)
What does a head movement at a trot look like on a lame horse?
Diagonal Gait, opposite front and back legs bear weight
Right hind soreness will shift weight on the left front, causing the head to go up when the right front is bearing weight (vice versa)
Ipsilateral for hind limb lameness!
Figure out if fore or hind with nerve blocking the hind limb, if the head bob goes away with nerve block then they are not lame on the front
What does the AAEP lameness scale look like?
Grades 0-5
0 - lameness not perceptible
1 - lameness difficult to observe
2 - lameness apparent under certain circumstances (weight carrying, circling, inclines, heard surfaces)
3 - lameness consistently observable at trot
4 - lameness obvious at walk
5 - minimal weight-bearing
How do you perform a flexion test?
Exacerbate lameness in attempt to localize cause
Stress area for ~1 minute then trot off
Make sure jogger allows horse unrestricted head movement
Judge degree and duration of response - Mild, moderate, or severe
Compare sides
Where are flexion tests performed on the forelimb of the horse?
distal limb
carpus
upper limb
What are the flexion tests for the hindlimbs?
distal limb
upper limb
What is the wedge test?
place foot on inclining wedge
pick up contralateral foot
strain pastern, coffin, and navicular
stand there for 45-60 secs and then they trot off
positive = distal limb issue
What else can you use to identify lameness in examimantion?
under saddle (exacerbate back soreness, adds weight)
treadmill
gait analysis
lameness finder electronically
