Short CommunicationThe Effectiveness of Thermographic Analysis in Equine Orthopedics
Introduction
Traditional diagnosis of equine orthopedic diseases involves radiographic and ultrasonographic examinations. These methods enable diagnosis of anatomical changes caused by inflammation processes [1]. Turner [2] proposed thermography as a complementary diagnostic method enabling abnormal patterns in skin surface temperatures and hence vascularity and metabolic activity within and below the skin surface to be detected. As such, it may be used to detect subclinical inflammation before the onset of clinical signs [3], [4], [5]. Stromberg [6] confirmed the usefulness of this technique in the diagnosis of pathological changes in the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) prior to the appearance of clinical signs of inflammation. In other studies, thermography has been used to diagnose subclinical signs of arthritis [7], [8]. Previous studies [3], [9] also report its use to continuously monitor the distal parts of the limbs and so diagnose subclinical inflammation up to 2 weeks before the onset of clinical lameness and swelling. The present study identified a specific threshold value of temperature change indicative of subclinical inflammation of the lower parts of the horse's limb.
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Study Population and Data Collection
Measurements were obtained from 20 clinically healthy racehorses of two breeds (12 Polish Half Breed; 8 Arabians), 3 years old. All horses were trained for flat racing at Partynice Race Course in Wroclaw, Poland. The study was approved by the Local Ethical Committee for Experiments on Animals of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences. The horses were housed in individual stalls with common management and training regimes. A series of thermographic images were taken of the
Results
Based on ultrasonographic, radiographic, and palpation examinations, horses were divided into two groups, “injured” and “noninjured,” at the end of the research by a veterinarian who was unaware of the thermographic results. The group of “injured” horses included 14 horses with diagnoses of clinical unilateral tendinitis of SDFT (3 horses), unilateral bucked shins (2 horses), bilateral bucked shins (4 horses), unilateral tendon overloads (5 horses), and mechanical injuries (percutaneous trauma;
Discussion and Conclusions
Previous studies have suggested that temperature differences of more than 1°C over 25% of the compared body area in horses is considered to be abnormal [14]. In the present study, a threshold difference value of 1.25°C of temperature change was indicative of subclinical inflammation and was characterized by a high specificity of 0.95%, which allowed identification of 5% of injured horses within the group of noninjured horses. In that case, it could be expected that some forelimbs exceeded the
Acknowledgments
The authors thank Monika Słowik, MSc, Director of Partynice Race Course, for kind permission to carry out the research on racehorses.
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