Advantages of scintigraphy in equine medicine
Scintigraphy, often referred to as bone scintigraphy, is a high-quality diagnostic imaging technique that plays an important role in equine medicine. This non-invasive method enables veterinarians to obtain detailed images of a horse's skeletal system, which is particularly important for the diagnosis and monitoring of bone and joint diseases.
Early detection of diseases
Scintigraphy is particularly sensitive to changes in bone structure. It can therefore recognise diseases long before they become visible on X-ray images. This enables early treatment and can significantly improve the chances of healing.Full body overview
Unlike other imaging techniques, which only visualise a specific area of the body, scintigraphy offers the possibility of examining the horse's entire body in a single scan. This is particularly useful to identify hidden problems or to determine the extent of a known disease.Non-invasive and safe
Scintigraphy is a non-invasive procedure. The radioactive isotope used is applied in such small quantities that it poses no danger to the animal. The animals only need to be sedated for the scan to ensure that they remain still during the procedure.
Identification of stress fractures and other micro-injuries
Sport horses are often exposed to stress fractures and other micro-injuries that are difficult to detect using conventional methods. Scintigraphy can visualise these types of injuries, which is of great importance for the prevention of more serious conditions and the planning of training and competition breaks.Monitoring the healing process
After an injury or operation, scintigraphy can be used to monitor the healing process. Regular scans can show how well the tissue is healing and whether treatment strategies need to be adjusted.
Application examples in equine medicine
Diagnosis of lameness
The exact cause of lameness is often difficult to localise. Scintigraphy can help to precisely identify the affected region by highlighting areas of increased bone metabolism.Checking the spine
Problems in the spine are often difficult to diagnose. Scintigraphy can provide valuable services here by revealing inflammatory processes or injuries in the spinal column area.
Research into unclear pain conditions
Sometimes horses show pain symptoms without a clear cause being found. Scintigraphy can help to uncover hidden problems and thus contribute to correct diagnosis and treatment.Conclusion
Scintigraphy is an indispensable tool in modern equine medicine. It offers a unique combination of whole-body overview, detailed accuracy and safety, which makes it suitable for a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Procedure
The scintigraphy examination of a horse comprises several steps:
Preparation of the horse
The horse usually comes to our clinic the day before the examination. Preparation for the scintigraphic examination also includes bandaging the limbs to be examined and inserting a venous catheter.
Sedation
In most cases, the horse is lightly sedated to ensure that it remains calm during the examination. This is important in order to obtain clear and undistorted images.
Administration of the radioactive tracer
A radioactive tracer (usually technetium-99m) is injected intravenously. This tracer accumulates in the bone, depending on its chemical composition and the metabolic activities in the horse's body.
Waiting time
After the injection, there is a waiting period of at least 2 hours, depending on the structure analysed and the tracer used. During this time, the tracer can spread throughout the body and accumulate in the target tissues.
The actual scintigraphy
The horse is brought into the vicinity of a special camera, the so-called gammaka-mera. This camera is able to detect the gamma radiation emitted by the radioactive tracer and translate it into image information.
The horse must stand very still during the recording. The camera is moved around the horse to obtain images from different angles.
The duration of the image acquisition depends on the size of the examined area and the type of examination and ranges from 30 minutes to 2 hours.
Image analysis
The images taken by the gamma camera are processed by a computer and displayed as scintigrams. These images show the distribution of the tracer in the horse's body.
A specialist doctor analyses the images to identify areas of abnormal storage of the radiopharmaceutical that could indicate disease or injury.
Aftercare
After the examination, the horse is isolated for a short period of time until the radioactive tracer has cleared to minimise radiation exposure to humans and other animals.
The medical staff will monitor the horse for side effects or reactions to the sedation or tracer.
Scintigraphy is a valuable diagnostic method in equine medicine as it provides information about the function and metabolism of tissues that cannot be obtained with other imaging techniques such as X-ray or ultrasound. It is particularly useful for diagnosing bone and joint diseases, but also certain soft tissue diseases.