Ultrasonographic Examination of the Equine Limbs: A Live Demonstration

Ultrasonography has become an essential procedure for the diagnosis of tendon and joint injuries. With this technique and the new equipments available, a non invasive assessment of the majority of the soft tissues of every joints in the limbs, back and pelvis is possible. Ultrasonography provides also useful information on many lesions of the articular surfaces. The objectives of the demonstration are: 1- to show how to image the most interesting anatomical structures being frequently injured; 2- to provide normal anatomical images to aid in the identification of the most frequent injuries seen in horses; 3- to present the main ultrasonographic abnormal findings of the different tendon and joint structures.

Palmar metacarpus: flexor tendons and suspensory ligament
The demonstration is focused on the proximal suspensory ligament (third interosseus muscle, TIOM). The flexor tendons are used to demonstrate the contrast enhancement technique (CET) consisting in highlighting the contrat between different structures or between the different tissues within the same structure, tilting the probe to make an oblique cross section of the anatomical structures being examined. This procedure is especially useful for examining the proximal TIOM on the weight bearing and on the flexed limb […]