Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Osseous lesion of the calcaneus following the use of shock wave therapy in a horse.
- Journal:
- Journal of veterinary medicine. A, Physiology, pathology, clinical medicine
- Year:
- 2005
- Authors:
- Diakakis, N et al.
- Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Studies
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
An 8-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding was brought in because he was limping slightly due to a soft tissue injury on the back of his right hock. X-rays showed swelling but no bone damage, and an ultrasound revealed a lot of scar tissue around a tendon in that area. To help reduce the scar tissue, the horse received shock wave therapy, but a month later, his lameness got worse and the swelling increased. After that, a special blister treatment was applied to the area, and twenty days later, both the swelling and lameness improved significantly. When the horse was checked again six months later, he remained stable with only a slight limp.
Abstract
An 8-year-old Dutch warmblood gelding was presented with a mechanical lameness (2/10) because of the presence of a soft tissue injury on the top of the right tuber calcanei. Plain radiographs of the tarsus demonstrated the presence of soft tissue swelling caudal to the right tuber calcanei, without osseous involvement, and ultrasonography revealed excessive scar tissue within and around the superficial digital flexor tendon. Extra-corporeal shock wave therapy was applied on the right hock to decrease the amount of scar tissue. One month after the therapy the lameness was greater (3/10) and a marginal increase in the size of the swelling was found. Periosteal new bone formation associated with an ill-defined radiolucent area and two bony fragments were detected radiographically at the caudo-proximal aspect of the right tuber calcanei. A blister containing oil of croton, camphor, pine and thyme, turpentine and cantharides was applied on the right calcaneus. Twenty days after blister application, the size of the swelling had been reduced by 50% and the degree of lameness had also been decreased (1/10). On clinical re-evaluation 6 months after treatment, the degree of lameness was stable (1/10) and flexion test of the limb was negative.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16268962/