abdominal | Horse Racing Free Tips

Core strengthening and postural stability are desired outcomes of certain therapeutic exercises performed in horses. A recent study, conducted at the University of Tennessee, aimed to quantify changes in muscle activation at a walk and trot in horses traveling over eight consecutive ground poles evenly spaced in parallel fashion in a straight line, and with hindquarter and abdominal elastic resistance bands applied at 25 percent stretch.

Surface electromyography data were collected for the longissimus dorsi (muscles along each side of the spine) and rectus abdominus (muscles underneath the belly) in six horses.

[Story Continues Below]

The use of ground poles at a walk resulted in an increase in the longissimus dorsi and rectus abdominus muscles. The use of ground poles at a trot resulted in an increase in the rectus abdominus muscles. The hindquarter and abdominal elastic resistance bands resulted in an increase in the left rectus abdominus muscle.

These findings provide support regarding changes in muscle activation when using ground poles to increase core and epaxial muscle engagement. While an effect on core muscle activation was identified with the elastic resistance bands at a trot, further research is needed to further characterize their effects on muscle activation.

For more information on this research, view the abstract in the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.

The post Research Update: The Effect Of Ground Poles And Elastic Resistance Bands On Equine Muscle Activity appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

As with human surgery, there is always a potential for infection during equine surgery, Drs. Kelmer, Paz, Tatz, Dahan, Bdolah-abram and Oreff reviewed 198 post-operative complications related to surgery procedures on 167 horses at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine in Israel over a 15-month period.

The study reviewed 40 percent abdominal surgeries, 30 percent orthopedic surgery and the rest were general surgeries that had a 9 to 20 percent chance of developing a surgical site infection. The incidence of infection was 16.7 percent during the study period.

The study team noted that post-operative surgical site infections created difficulties with recovery, increased the length of stay in the hospital, increased client coats sand delayed return to work. It addition, surgical site infections caused an increase in equine morbidity and mortality.

Of all the surgeries performed, abdominal procedures had the highest risk of infection with 28 percent. This may be because of the length of the incision or the weight of the intestines on the incisions.

The scientists identified the following as factors that increase the risk for a surgical site infection:

Type of surgery.
Having a repeat surgery in less than 6 months in the same area or in an area near the original incision. Abdominal procedures are particularly at risk.
Weight of the horse. Heavier horses have more weight resting on the incision line in their abdomen.
Gender. In the study, only 2.3 percent of stallions developed infections, compared to 16.1 percent of geldings and 24.3 percent of mares; 50 percent of pregnant mares had surgical site complications.
Recovery from anesthesia. A horse that has a hard time recovering from anesthesia may increase his risk of infection development by four times.

Abdominal procedure infection rate ranges from 7 to 37 percent; arthroscopic surgery infection rate was less than 1 percent. Overall infection frequency in orthopedic procedures was around 10 percent.

The team found that other factors may amplify infection risk. These include time of day and season when the surgery takes place; the surgeon; and a horse's breed and age. They also note that as this study looked at cases between 2011 and 2013, surgical techniques, bacterial resistance and bacterial populations have changes, so additional studies are needed.

Tag: abdominal

Research Update: The Effect Of Ground Poles And Elastic Resistance Bands On Equine Muscle Activity

Abdominal Surgery Poses Greatest Risk Of Surgical Site Infection