Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Faculty of Kinesiology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Equine Vet J. 2024 Jan;56(1):76-88. doi: 10.1111/evj.13947. Epub 2023 May 24.
During orthopaedic assessment of lame horses, a head nod is commonly present in both primary forelimb and hindlimb lame horses. Additional motion metrics that could assist clinicians in correctly differentiating between these two scenarios would be of great clinical value.
The primary objective of this study was to examine whether withers movement asymmetry can be used in a clinical setting to distinguish primary forelimb lameness from compensatory head movement asymmetry due to primary hindlimb lameness.
Retrospective, multicentre study.
Movement asymmetry of head, withers and pelvis was measured using multi-camera optical motion capture, as part of routine lameness investigations at four European equine hospitals. Vertical movement asymmetry parameters from 317 horses trotting in a straight line were compared before and after successful diagnostic analgesia of a single limb. Descriptive statistics, t-tests and linear models were used to analyse the data.
In forelimb lame horses, 80%-81% showed head and withers asymmetry both indicating lameness in the same forelimb. In hindlimb lame horses, 69%-72% showed head asymmetry ipsilateral to the lame hindlimb and withers asymmetry diagonal to the lame hindlimb, thus, head and withers asymmetry indicated lameness in different forelimbs. A large (>15 mm) compensatory head nod was seen in 28%-31% of the hindlimb lame horses. In 89%-92% of these, head and withers asymmetry indicated lameness in different forelimbs. Withers asymmetry decreased linearly with reduced head or pelvic asymmetry for both forelimb and hindlimb lame horses.
Compensatory strategies were evaluated on group level to identify common patterns, potentially ignoring uncommon individual strategies.
Withers vertical movement asymmetry metrics can be useful in helping to locate the primary lame limb during quantitative lameness assessment. Head and withers movement asymmetry parameters generally indicate the same forelimb in forelimb lame horses, but different forelimbs in hindlimb lame horses.
在矫形评估跛行马时，原发性前肢和后肢跛行马通常都存在头部点头现象。如果能够发现其他运动学指标，将有助于临床医生正确区分这两种情况，这将具有重要的临床价值。
本研究的主要目的是检验马肩隆运动的不对称性是否可用于临床，以区分原发性前肢跛行和因原发性后肢跛行引起的代偿性头部运动不对称。
回顾性、多中心研究。
使用多摄像机光学运动捕捉技术测量头部、马肩隆和骨盆的运动不对称性，作为欧洲四家马医院常规跛行评估的一部分。对 317 匹马直线运动的垂直运动不对称参数进行分析，这些马在单侧肢体成功诊断性镇痛后进行了比较。使用描述性统计、t 检验和线性模型对数据进行分析。
在前肢跛行马中，80%-81%的马头部和马肩隆同时出现不对称，表明同侧前肢跛行。在后肢跛行马中，69%-72%的马头部向患肢对侧出现不对称，马肩隆向对侧对角肢出现不对称，因此头部和马肩隆不对称表明不同前肢跛行。28%-31%的后肢跛行马出现了较大的（>15mm）代偿性头部点头。在这些马中，89%-92%的马头部和马肩隆不对称表明不同前肢跛行。对于前肢和后肢跛行马，马肩隆的不对称性与头部或骨盆的不对称性呈线性减少。
补偿策略是在群体水平上进行评估的，以确定常见模式，可能忽略了不常见的个体策略。
马肩隆垂直运动不对称性指标在定量跛行评估中有助于确定原发性跛行肢体的位置。头部和马肩隆运动的不对称性参数通常表明前肢跛行的马同一前肢跛行，但后肢跛行的马不同前肢跛行。
