Scientists Work to Measure Equine Back Pain Objectively
Your horse’s back hurts, but exactly where and how much? Your veterinarian gets a reaction when she pushes down with two fingers here, your horse flinches when your trainer prods with one finger there, and you feel like his entire back is sensitive.
Austrian scientists say quantifying back pain with objective measurements can lead to more targeted pain-relieving therapy as well as provide a basis for comparison as the horse improves (or worsens). And while this hasn’t been possible in the past, they said they can now gather objective back pain measurements using algometers (pressure measurement devices).
“Algometers allow results of back examinations to be better comparable over different examiners than digital (finger) pressure, and they offer numerical results,” said Theresia Licka, PhD, DVM, Dipl. ACVSMR (Equine), equine orthopedic surgeon and researcher at the University of Veterinary Medicine (UVM) in Vienna, Austria; a member of the university’s Movement Science Group (MSG); and an Honorary Fellow at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, in Scotland.
“We wanted to know how the different areas of the back of the horse are reflected in their sensitivity to algometer pressure, to which depth an algometer actually exerts pressure in the equine back, and which of the different tips of the algometer are most reliable over several horses,” she said
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