Liljebrink Y, Bergh A
Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Equine Vet J Suppl. 2010 Nov(38):676-82. doi: 10.1111/j.2042-3306.2010.00254.x.
Simple objective assessment tools are essential to monitor the clinical efficacy of therapeutic interventions used in equine orthopaedics and rehabilitation. In human medicine, goniometry is a validated tool to quantify restrictions in joint range of motion (ROM); however, the technique is not validated in horses.
To validate 2 different goniometry techniques for the measurement of passive flexion of the fetlock, carpus and hock by examining; 1) the intra- and inter-tester reliability; 2) the differences between 2 goniometry techniques and 3) differences between standing and anaesthetised horses.
The study is composed of three parts: 1) the intra- and inter-tester reliability was examined on 10 horses, where each horse was assessed by 5 pairs of testers measuring ROM with a universal goniometer; 2) the differences between 2 goniometry techniques were examined on 14 horses, each assessed by 2 investigators (either working in pairs with one investigator holding the limb and the other measuring the joint angle, or working individually at the same time holding and measuring); 3) on 6 horses, the differences between standing and anaesthetised horses were assessed by 2 investigators with the same techniques as described above. Nonparametric tests (Mann-Whitney, Wilcoxon sign-rank) and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were used for statistical analysis (P < 0.05).
As shown in human studies, goniometry is a promising tool in documenting passive flexion of fetlock, carpus and hock, if used by the same investigator. However, additional studies are needed for further validation.
简单的客观评估工具对于监测用于马科动物骨科和康复治疗的临床疗效至关重要。在人类医学中，测角术是一种用于量化关节活动范围（ROM）受限情况的有效工具；然而，该技术在马匹中尚未得到验证。
通过检查来验证两种不同的测角术技术用于测量跗关节、腕关节和飞节的被动屈曲；1）测试者内部和测试者之间的可靠性；2）两种测角术技术之间的差异；3）站立马匹和麻醉马匹之间的差异。
本研究由三个部分组成：1）在10匹马身上检查测试者内部和测试者之间的可靠性，每匹马由5对测试者使用通用测角仪测量ROM；2）在14匹马身上检查两种测角术技术之间的差异，每匹马由2名研究人员评估（要么两人一组，一名研究人员固定肢体，另一名测量关节角度，要么同时单独进行固定和测量）；3）在6匹马身上，由2名研究人员使用上述相同技术评估站立马匹和麻醉马匹之间的差异。采用非参数检验（曼-惠特尼检验、威尔科克森符号秩检验）和组内相关系数（ICC）进行统计分析（P<0.05）。
1）测试者内部可靠性高至极佳（ICC 0.8 - 1），测试者之间可靠性低至中等（ICC 0.1 - 0.5）；2）与单独测量相比，成对测量时腕关节和飞节的关节ROM存在显著差异；3）与站立马匹相比，测量麻醉马匹时关节ROM存在显著差异。
如人类研究所示，如果由同一名研究人员使用，测角术在记录跗关节、腕关节和飞节的被动屈曲方面是一种有前景的工具。然而，需要进一步的研究来进行进一步验证。
