Even with impeccable care and fitness, your sporthorse may come down with a wound, injury or lameness that requires a look inside. Fortunately, a variety of diagnostic tools are available, both at the farm or at a referral hospital. From radiographs to nuclear scintigraphy, there’s a modality to help your veterinarian make an assessment and create a treatment plan to get your horse on the road to recovery.
Radiographs
Radiographs (x-rays) offer a look primarily at bony structures. A variety of conditions can be diagnosed with radiographs, including navicular disease, OCD, ringbone, sidebone, hock changes, fractures, dental issues, sinus infections, neck, back and more. Radiographs are also useful for creating a library of baseline images for young sport horses.
Portable digital radiography machines render crisp images at your barn without a trip to the clinic. This allows for on-the-spot diagnosis and treatment plans.
CT Scan
Like radiographs, computerized tomography (CT) scans use radiation to create a picture of bony structures with the added benefit of 3-D imagery. Standing or lying CT scans can be used to diagnose fractures, lameness, temporomandibular joint problems, and conditions affecting the skull, sinus and teeth.
Ultrasound
Ultrasound machines are commonly used for reproductive exams, exploration of soft-tissue masses and wounds, abdominal tissues, organs and the soft tissues of the limbs. Suspensory and deep flexor tendon injuries are diagnosed with ultrasound. Sedation is often not necessary and it’s likely that your veterinarian carries an ultrasound on their truck.
MRI
MRI is considered the gold standard in diagnosing musculoskeletal injuries in horses. The procedure requires a trip to a referral hospital, along with shoe removal and sedation or anesthetization, but the imagery from an MRI is often definitive. An MRI, lying or standing, shows details of soft tissue (tendons and ligaments), fluid, bone and lesions that radiographs and ultrasound cannot visualize.
MRI uses radiofrequency waves and a magnetic field to create 3-D, cross-sectional images so your veterinarian can look at thin slices of tissue. This allows them to differentiate between acute and chronic injuries in tendons, ligaments and bones, as well as determine the severity of the injury.
Nuclear Scintigraphy
Nuclear Scintigraphy (commonly called a bone scan) offers a diagnostic solution when the source of the unsoundness is not readily apparent after a thorough lameness evaluation. The procedure requires a visit at a referral hospital and sedation. The process begins with an IV injection of a radioisotope that settles in areas of bone remodeling. Approximately two hours later, a whole body scan is performed. Your horse will need to stay at the clinic for 24 hours after receiving the isotope in order to clear the nuclear material from his body.
In areas where the isotope has settled it “lights up” on the computer, indicating where potential problems may lie. This allows the veterinarian to know a region of the body to perform additional diagnostic tests. Bone scans can be particularly useful for difficult to diagnose spine problems. This procedure also illuminates multiple limb lameness issues.
PET Scan
A Positron Emission Tomography Scan (PET scan) is the latest diagnostic tool in your veterinarian’s toolbox. This procedure is performed at a referral hospital and requires sedation.
Similar to nuclear scintigraphy, your horse will be injected with a radioactive agent, followed by a standing scan that reveals any “hot spots”. These microscopic changes have the potential to develop into severe or career-ending injuries, but when caught early can be treated. Watch a video and see images from PET scans performed at the New Bolton Center here.
While you never want to have to deal with injuries, unsoundness or wounds, state of the art diagnostics allows you and your veterinarian to create a care plan moving forward.
Disclaimer:
All content provided by Iron Spring Farm is general and for informational purposes only. Content may also not constitute the most up to date information. Nothing in this content is intended to constitute veterinarian advice or to serve as a substitute for consultation with a veterinarian. Always seek the advice of your veterinarian or other qualified provider with any questions that you may have about the treatment and care of your horse.
Any reliance that you place on the information provided is strictly at your own risk and Iron Spring Farm, its officers, employees, representatives, and agents, hereby disclaim any and all liability to any party for any direct, indirect, implied, punitive, special, incidental, consequential or other damages arising directly or indirectly from access to or use of any content provided to the maximum extent permitted by law.
