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Proceedings of the 54th Annual Convention of

the American Association of Equine Practitioners

December 6–10, 2008, San Diego, California

Program Chair : Harry W. Werner

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Dr. Stephen M. Reed, Educational Programs Committee Chair

Carey M. Ross, Scientific Publications Coordinator

Published by the American Association of Equine Practitioners

www.aaep.org

ISSN 0065–7182 © American Association of Equine Practitioners, 2008

Distal Deep Digital Flexor Tendon Angulation andTendinopathy Within the Equine Foot

Justin D. McCormick, MS; Sarah M. Puchalski, DVM, Diplomate ACVR; andRyan M. Schultz, DVM

To detect deep digital flexor tendon (DDFT) injury in the distal pastern region, well-positioned,lateromedial radiographs may be useful in the clinical evaluation of horses with heel pain. Authors’address: Department of Surgical and Radiological Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, University ofCalifornia, Davis, One Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616; e-mail: jdmccormick@vmth.ucdavis.edu.© 2008AAEP.

1. Introduction

The pathophysiology of navicular degeneration hasbeen described, but the etiopathogenesis of tendonlesions within the hoof is not well understood. Wehypothesize that more acute angulation of the deepdigital flexor tendon (DDFT) as it passes over thenavicular bone is associated with DDFT lesions.

2. Materials and Methods

Lateromedial radiographs from 20 lame horses withDDFT lesions just proximal to the navicular bonewere compared with radiographs from 20 soundhorses presenting for pre-purchase examinationcontemporaneously (2003–2007). For inclusion,each horse had lameness alleviated by palmar digi-tal nerve anesthesia, and findings from well-posi-tioned radiographs were incompatible with the degreeof lameness. Five measurements were made, and re-

sults were compared using a paired t-test; p � 0.05was considered significant.

3. Results

The DDFT angle as it passed over the navicularbone was significantly more acute in lesion horsesthan controls. Lesion horses also showed a trendtoward decreased length of the palmar surface of thenavicular bone distance (p � 0.09). Other mea-surements were not significantly different.

4. Discussion

In this set of cases, more acute distal DDFT anglewas associated with DDFT lesions proximal to thenavicular bone. Careful examination of laterome-dial radiographs may provide additional informa-tion in horses with heel pain. A causal relationshipwas not investigated. but the angle of the DDFTmay have biomechanical implications that influencetendon function.

232 2008 � Vol. 54 � AAEP PROCEEDINGS

LAMENESS—THE FOOT

Research Abstract

NOTES

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Proceedings of the Annual Convention of the AAEP - San Diego, CA, USA, 2008