Objective: To determine if pain of the heel of the sole in horses can be attenuated by anesthesia of the distal interphlangeal joint (DIP). Design: Experimental study.
Animals: Six adult and apparently healthy horses. Procedure: Lameness was induced by creating pressurc on the heel of the sole by screwing Set-Screws into a nut welded to the inside of each branch of a shoe. Gaits in trot and walk were evaluated before and after application of Set-Screws and after a local anesthetic or saline solution was administered into the DIP joint. Gaits recorded on videotape were evaluated, and lameness scores were assigned to each gait. Statistical analysis: Using Non-parametric paired sign test with P
Clinical implications: Analgesia of the DIP joint desensitizes at least a portion of the sole, so pain arising from the sole in heel region should not be excluded as a cause of lameness when lameness is attenuated by analgesia of the DIP joint. J. Fac. Vet. Med. Univ. Tehran. 58, 1: 33-36, 2003.
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