Non-invasive Assessment of Lameness in Horses with Dorsal Spinous Process Impingement “Kissing spine”: A Case Study.

The assessment of muscle function in connection with an injury or during recovery is of paramount importance in the veterinary field, where animals often attempt to conceal their pain and impaired mobility. In recent years, such techniques as accelerometry, bioimpedance analysis and mechanomyography more precisely referred to as acoustic myography have been used for the assessment of human muscular problems. However, these techniques have yet to be applied routinely in the veterinary world, and have not been used in connection with injury in horses. The combined use of these novel and non-invasive techniques was applied to the case of a 6-year-old Danish Warmblood mare that presented with recurring and shifting lameness. Acoustic myography, assessing both the amplitude and frequency of active muscles, was employed to locate the specific area of muscle injury. Thereafter this specific region was assessed in terms of its bioimpedance properties, assessing muscle resistance (R) and reactance (Xc) and confirming a regional loss of muscle mass and cellular integrity compared with the contralateral site. Finally, accelerometry was used to reveal the effects of the injury on the gait, as measured using such parameters as the stride interval, strike force and stance interval. It is concluded that acoustic myography, bioimpedance and accelerometry when used in combination, provide a useful set of diagnostic tools for the rapid and non-invasive determination of muscular injury in the horse.