Power doppler to investigate superficial digital flexor tendinopathy in the horse

Abstract

Background: Recent advances in tendinopathy research have focused on tendon vascularization detected with Color Doppler (CD) ultrasound. The use of CD has also been described in horses in a study on chronic lesions of superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) and suspensory ligament. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and distribution of Power Doppler (PD) signal in horses with superficial digital flexor tendinopathy. Methods: Twenty-two horses with tendinopathy were included and ten healthy horses with no lameness and no ultrasonographic abnormalities used for comparison. Results: In all horses with tendinopathy PD signal was visible while normal tendons with no abnormalities in B-mode were PD signal-free. Conclusion: We can speculate that PD could provide essential information about the healing process than the greyscale ultrasound.

Keywords

• horse
• power doppler
• sdft
• tendinopathy