Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Reciprocal apparatus dysfunction as a cause of severe hind limb lameness in a horse.
- Journal:
- Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
- Year:
- 1991
- Authors:
- Reeves, M J & Trotter, G W
- Affiliation:
- Department of Clinical Sciences · United States
- Species:
- horse
Plain-English summary
A 2-year-old Appaloosa mare was brought in because she was limping severely on her back legs. The veterinarian found that her hock joint (the joint above the ankle) could move without affecting her stifle joint (the equivalent of a knee), which indicated a problem with her leg's movement mechanics. After examining her, they determined that she had a tear in a muscle called the superficial digital flexor, which is important for leg movement. After being kept in a stall for five months to rest and recover, the mare made an excellent recovery.
Abstract
A 2-year-old Appaloosa mare was admitted because of acute, severe hind limb lameness (grade 4 of 5). The hock could be flexed or extended without influencing the position of the stifle joint, and the fetlock and proximal interphalangeal joints could be extended while the hock was maintained in flexion. The diagnosis was functional loss of the reciprocal apparatus. The differential diagnoses for functional loss of the reciprocal apparatus include disruption of the common calcaneal tendon, the gastrocnemius muscle, the peroneus tertius, or the superficial digital flexor muscle. In this horse, the diagnosis was disruption of the superficial digital flexor muscle. The horse made an excellent recovery following 5 months of stall confinement.
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Search related cases →Original publication: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1748608/