What can radiology tell us about palmar foot pain?

摘要

Familiarity, convenience and cost mean that radiography has remained an important tool in the investigation of foot pain in horses despite the increased accessibility of advanced imaging modalities, such as nuclear scintigraphy and magnetic resonanceimaging. Comparison with the other imaging modalities has increased recognition of the limitations of radiography in the diagnosis of foot pain [Dyson 2002; Dyson et al. 2006] but these may be minimised by evaluating radiological findings together with the results of physical examination, gait assessment and diagnostic local anaesthesia.Radiology can play a role in the diagnosis of a number of conditions that are commonly associated with palmar foot pain, including dorsopalmar foot imbalance, navicular disease and fracture of the palmar portion of the distal phalanx. Given the lack specificity of local anaesthetic techniques used to localise pain to the foot, radiography may also contribute to diagnosis by helping to ruling out some of the causes of foot pain that are not restricted to palmar structures, for example, osteoarthritis ofthe distal interphalangeal joint.