Methods
Medical records of horses used for endurance and diagnosed with bone stress injuries and/or fatigue fractures of the pelvis by ultrasound were reviewed. The bone stress injuries and fatigue fractures were classified as affecting the iliac wing, the iliac shaft, the tuber ischiadicum, the rest of the ischium, or the pubis and subdivided into four fracture configurations: isolated iliac fracture, isolated fracture of the floor of the pelvis, isolated tuber ischiadicum fracture, and multiple fractures. Descriptive statistics were performed overall and on fracture configurations for age, sex, breed, level of activity, affected limbs, previous injuries, development of the injury, seasons in the UAE, physical and dynamic findings, and outcome. For each fracture configuration and the outcome, multivariable logistic regression models were developed after univariable logistic regression and collinearity analyses. Significance was set at P ≤ .05.
Results
Sixty endurance horses were included; 48% (95% CI: 36%-61%) had isolated iliac fracture, 17% (7%-26%) isolated fracture of the floor of the pelvis, 15% (6%-24%) isolated tuber ischiadicum fracture, and 20% (10%-30%) had multiple fractures. Breed (OR, 4.42; 95%CI, 1.02-19.57) was significantly associated with isolated iliac fracture and asymmetry of bone landmarks (OR, 7.42; 95% CI, 1.47-37.45) with isolated tuber ischiadicum fracture. Degree of lameness (OR, 3.08; 95% CI, 1.07-8.9) and trotting on three tracks (OR, 8.62; 95% CI, 1.43-51.9) were significantly associated with the diagnosis of isolated fracture of the floor of the pelvis.
Conclusions
Bone stress injuries and fatigue fractures of the pelvis can affect endurance horses trained and competing on deep sand. Isolated bone stress injuries and/or fatigue fractures of the ileum were the most common followed by multiple pelvic bone involvement. The presence of lameness and trotting on three tracks suggest the presence of bone stress injuries and/or fatigue fractures of the floor of the pelvis; asymmetry of bony landmarks is more commonly detected in horses with bone stress injuries and/or fatigue fractures of the tuber ischiadicum.
Original source https://beva.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/evj.13536