Tierklinik Luesche GmbH, Luesche, Germany.
Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
PLoS One. 2020 Feb 25;15(2):e0222822. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222822. eCollection 2020.
Clinical assessment of spinal motion in horses is part of many routine clinical exams but remains highly subjective. A prerequisite for the quantification of spinal motion is the assessment of the expected normal range of motion and variability of back kinematics. The aim of this study was to objectively quantify spinal kinematics and between -measurement, -surface and -day variation in owner-sound horses. In an observational study, twelve owner-sound horses were trotted 12 times on four different paths (hard/soft straight line, soft lunge left and right). Measurements were divided over three days, with five repetitions on day one and two, and two repetitions on day three (recheck) which occurred 28-55 days later. Optical motion capture was used to collect kinematic data. Elements of the outcome were: 1) Ranges of Motion (ROM) with confidence intervals per path and surface, 2) a variability model to calculate between-measurement variation and test the effect of time, surface and path, 3) intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) to determine repeatability. ROM was lowest on the hard straight line. Cervical lateral bending was doubled on the left compared to the right lunge. Mean variation for the flexion-extension and lateral bending of the whole back were 0.8 and 1 degrees. Pelvic motion showed a variation of 1.0 (pitch), 0.7 (yaw) and 1.3 (roll) degrees. For these five parameters, a tendency for more variation on the hard surface and reduced variation with increased repetitions was observed. More variation was seen on the recheck (p<0.001). ICC values for pelvic rotations were between 0.76 and 0.93, for the whole back flexion-extension and lateral bending between 0.51 and 0.91. Between-horse variation was substantially higher than within-horse variation. In conclusion, ROM and variation in spinal biomechanics are horse-specific and small, necessitating individual analysis and making subjective and objective clinical assessment of spinal kinematics challenging.
马的脊柱运动的临床评估是许多常规临床检查的一部分，但仍然高度主观。脊柱运动的量化的前提是评估脊柱运动的预期正常范围和背部运动学的可变性。本研究的目的是客观地量化脊柱运动学，并评估在健康马中，脊柱运动学的测量、表面和天间变异性。在一项观察性研究中，12 匹健康马在四条不同路径（硬/软直线、软左/右侧步）上被慢跑 12 次。测量结果分为三天进行，第一天和第二天进行五次重复，第三天（复查）进行两次重复，复查时间间隔为 28-55 天。使用光学运动捕捉来收集运动学数据。结果的要素包括：1）每条路径和表面的运动范围（ROM）及其置信区间，2）一个变异性模型，用于计算测量间变异性并测试时间、表面和路径的影响，3）确定可重复性的组内相关系数（ICC）。在硬直线上，ROM 最低。与右侧侧步相比，左侧颈椎侧向弯曲增加了一倍。整个背部屈伸和侧向弯曲的平均变异性为 0.8 和 1 度。骨盆运动显示出 1.0 度（俯仰）、0.7 度（偏航）和 1.3 度（滚动）的变化。对于这五个参数，在硬表面上观察到变异性增加，随着重复次数的增加，变异性减小的趋势。复查时，变异性更大（p<0.001）。骨盆旋转的 ICC 值在 0.76 到 0.93 之间，整个背部屈伸和侧向弯曲的 ICC 值在 0.51 到 0.91 之间。马间变异性明显高于马内变异性。总之，脊柱生物力学的 ROM 和变异性是特定于马的，而且很小，需要进行个体分析，这使得对脊柱运动学的主观和客观临床评估具有挑战性。
