DIAGNOSING, MANAGING, AND RESOLVING LAMENESS IN HORSES
Fig. 9. Twelve-year-old Thoroughbred Foxhunter gelding. This is a good example of multifidus fiber disruption and intramuscular tissue.
tern, theMMhas a regular homogenic echoge- nicity. Any changes shall be suspicious of pathology. The authors have identified hy- poechoic findings with local tears and abnor- mal fiber patterns at the edge of insertions sites on the spinous processes or on the epaxial vertebrae bodies.
● Change in echogenicity (hyper): Hyper- echogenic findings have been more frequent in the authors’ case log. The disruption of fibers and enthesopathy on the 2 attachment sites create local fibrous remodeling with a different density and significant amount of hyperechoic findings. This can be assessed on both transectional and longitudinal views. On transectional views these lesions often look like “white” spots and have been related and found closer to the spinous pro- cesses, and somehow in the body of the MMs. When taking into account the history of the
horse, some of these findings seem to fit with past injections of long-term steroids or local blisters. On the other hand, the combina- tion of imaging with the longitudinal axis confirms an avulsion or enthesophytes from either the spinous processes (majority of findings), or caudal attachment on the mam- millary process (MP; more rare).
6. Discussion
The MM ultrasonography was found to be very useful in equine sport medicine. This technique is really noninvasive and easy to realize for prac- titioners already used to practice ultrasound. This technique can be done using portable devices, and the back preparation of most athletic horse with short hairs gives a rapid, easy-to-read image. In the authors’ experience, it seems that this eval- uation shall be made in cases of chronic back pain and counter performance. As x-ray imaging and bone
