Møller-Jensen Merete, Blomquist Michaela Hansen, Mortensen Camilla Lamhauge, Olsson Isolde Katharina Christersdotter, Cuevas-Ramos Gabriel
Large Animal Teaching Hospital, Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Copenhagen, 1165 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Animals (Basel). 2022 Mar 22;12(7):800. doi: 10.3390/ani12070800.
The popliteal tendon and muscle are major stabilizers of the human and dog knee, more specifically the postero-lateral corner. Injury to this complex causes posterior knee pain, and it is generally associated with other injured structures such as the lateral collateral ligament, lateral meniscus, and/or the cranial cruciate ligament. The popliteal complex is poorly reported in the horse, and its specific function has not been determined. Nevertheless, it is likely that it is similar to that of other species, and that injury to it could have similar clinical repercussions. Lameness due to stifle pathology is a serious clinical entity in sport horses. One of the cardinal diagnostic tools in lameness exams is ultrasonography; however, a comprehensive technique to examine the popliteal complex (tendon and muscle) in the horse has not been reported. The objective of the study was to develop a systematic ultrasound technique of the equine popliteal complex that allows identification of the insertion and variations of the popliteal tendon (PopT), as well as examination of the popliteal muscle (PopM). Comparison between anatomical variants among horses was studied in order to identify possible significant differences. For this, 10 university teaching horses were used, hence 20 stifles were examined, several times. With the ultrasound technique presented here, the PopT and PopM are consistently examined. The developed technique allows reliable examination of the popliteal complex in the horse, and it could be included during standard ultrasound examination of equine stifle.
腘肌腱和肌肉是人和犬膝关节的主要稳定结构，更具体地说是后外侧角的稳定结构。该复合体损伤会导致膝关节后方疼痛，并且通常与其他受损结构相关，如外侧副韧带、外侧半月板和/或前交叉韧带。关于马的腘复合体的报道较少，其具体功能尚未确定。然而，它可能与其他物种的类似，对其损伤可能产生类似的临床影响。由于膝关节病变导致的跛行是运动马中一种严重的临床病症。跛行检查的主要诊断工具之一是超声检查；然而，尚未有报道一种全面检查马的腘复合体（肌腱和肌肉）的技术。本研究的目的是开发一种系统的马腘复合体超声技术，该技术能够识别腘肌腱（PopT）的附着点和变异情况，以及检查腘肌（PopM）。研究了马匹之间解剖变异的比较，以确定可能存在的显著差异。为此，使用了10匹大学教学用马，因此检查了20个膝关节，检查了多次。使用本文介绍的超声技术，可以持续检查PopT和PopM。所开发的技术能够可靠地检查马的腘复合体，并且可以纳入马膝关节的标准超声检查中。
