University Clinic for Ruminants, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
University Clinic for Ruminants, Department for Farm Animals and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna, 1210 Vienna, Austria.
Vet J. 2021 Feb;268:105591. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2020.105591. Epub 2020 Dec 4.
Pedal bone fractures are one of the most common fracture locations in adult cattle and can be diagnosed by radiographs in two planes. Most bovine practitioners do not have access to such X-ray machines, but many use ultrasound units on a daily basis, primarily for reproductive medicine. For this reason, in this double-masked, randomized controlled study, we aimed to investigate the suitability of ultrasonographic examination using a 5 MHz linear transducer for diagnosing closed fractures of the pedal bone in cattle. A total of 54 hindlimb claws from slaughtered cattle were prepared and approximately 50% of the claws were artificially fractured. All claws were ultrasonographically examined twice by two examiners to determine the presence or absence of fractures and their locations. Ultrasound results were confirmed using radiographs of the claws as the reference standard method. All fracture locations as determined by ultrasonography were situated within ±2 mm of the radiographically-determined fracture zone. Ultrasound examination yielded a calculated sensitivity of 93%, a specificity of 91% and an inter-rater reliability of 0.77. The intra-rater reliability for the examiners were 0.96 and 0.88. Examiner experience with ultrasound examination and using ultrasound images for diagnosis could have influenced diagnostic accuracy. We conclude that artificially-created pedal bone fractures in ex-vivo bovine claws can be diagnosed using ultrasonography; similar results are expected in live animals. These results should encourage veterinarians to use ultrasonography for diagnosing pedal bone fractures in cattle.
跖骨骨折是成年牛最常见的骨折部位之一，可通过两个平面的 X 光片诊断。大多数牛科兽医没有这种 X 光机，但许多人每天都使用超声设备，主要用于生殖医学。出于这个原因，在这项双盲、随机对照研究中，我们旨在研究使用 5MHz 线性换能器进行超声检查诊断牛跖骨闭合性骨折的适用性。共准备了 54 个后肢蹄爪，大约 50%的蹄爪是人工骨折的。所有的蹄爪都由两名检查者进行了两次超声检查，以确定是否存在骨折以及骨折的位置。超声结果通过蹄爪的 X 光片作为参考标准方法进行确认。超声检查确定的所有骨折位置均位于 X 光片确定的骨折区域的±2mm 范围内。超声检查的计算灵敏度为 93%，特异性为 91%，观察者间可靠性为 0.77。检查者的观察者内可靠性分别为 0.96 和 0.88。检查者的超声检查经验和使用超声图像进行诊断可能会影响诊断准确性。我们得出结论，人工制作的牛跗骨骨折可以通过超声检查进行诊断；在活体动物中也有望得到类似的结果。这些结果应该鼓励兽医使用超声检查来诊断牛的跖骨骨折。
