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Superficial digital flexor tendon injuries in teenage and older horses
Author(s) -
Dyson S.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
equine veterinary education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.304
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 2042-3292
pISSN - 0957-7734
DOI - 10.2746/095777307x188332
Subject(s) - medicine , tendon , physical medicine and rehabilitation , anatomy
The report by Smith and Mair (2007) of 9 elderly (18–22 years of age) pleasure riding horses with spontaneous unilateral rupture of a forelimb superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) makes an important contribution to the literature, most particularly because it reports a fairly rapid and complete recovery for light work in all horses. I am aware that historically the dramatic clinical signs at the time of onset of lameness have prompted some practitioners to presume a dire prognosis, with the result that horses have been humanely destroyed. This paper provides sound clinical data that such horses can be returned to light work within 6 months of injury. Interestingly, given the high frequency of occurrence of bilateral SDFT strain injuries in racehorses and sports horses, at the time of follow up examinations no ultrasonographic abnormalities were identified in the nonlame limb in the horses in this series, although one of the 9 horses did subsequently sustain a rupture of the contralateral SDFT. It is not recorded whether both forelimbs were examined ultrasonographically at the time of initial presentation. This also contrasts with clinical experience of SDFT lesions in the carpal and proximal metacarpal region in older sports horses and ponies (usually >12–15 years of age), which may present with a sudden onset of lameness. Although lameness is often unilateral, bilateral lesions are frequently identified ultrasonographically (Fig 1). In these horses and, less commonly, ponies, the diagnosis may be challenging because although lameness may be quite severe, there may be no obvious localising clinical signs. In some horses there may be mild swelling in the proximal metacarpal region or distension of the carpal sheath, and in these horses there may be pain elicited by firm palpation of the SDFT. Lameness is in some horses accentuated by flexion of the carpus. It is often necessary to use local analgesia to identify the source of pain causing lameness. Perineural analgesia of the palmar nerves just distal to the carpus may improve the lameness, but in others lameness may be unaffected because the lesion extends more proximally. Therefore perineural analgesia of the median and ulnar nerves may be necessary to alleviate the lameness.