By now it’s no secret that MRI is the gold standard in diagnosing pain in the rear (palmar) portion of horses’ feet. However, many owners still choose to have less-reliable radiography performed on their heel-sore horses due to MRI’s high cost and inconvenience.

Tracy Turner, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, ACVSMR, of Anoka Equine Veterinary Services, in Elk River, Minn., believes there’s a more effective diagnostic option for owners hoping to avoid MRI: navicular bursography. He explained how veterinarians can perform and interpret this procedure during the 2013 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 7-11 in Nashville, Tenn.

With navicular bursography, veterinarians inject a contrast material into the horse’s navicular bursa (the fluid-filled sac cushioning the navicular bone from the deep digital flexor tendon that slides over it) and then radiograph (X ray) the area.

Practitioners originally used this technique to confirm accurate injection of anesthetics (pain relievers) into the bursa. They soon learned they could also use it to evaluate the navicular region when normal radiographs fail to pinpoint the problem