Serratus ventralis muscle injury in endurance horses

The two muscle bellies of the serratus ventralis lie under the scapula and extend outward both forward (cervicis) and rearward (thoracis) of the shoulder. Together, these muscles suspend the horse’s thorax from the front legs. This report describes the clinical signs and treatment of injuries to these muscles that occurred in 11 endurance horses.
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Return to sport activity following ultrasonographic diagnosis and conservative management of spontaneous injuries of the serratus cervicis ventralis and serratus thoracis ventralis muscles in 11 endurance horses

J Am Vet Med Assoc. 2024 Aug 2:1-6. doi: 10.2460/javma.24.03.0211. Online ahead of print.
Authors
Massimo Puccetti 1 , Nicola Pilati 2 , Francesca Beccati 3 , Jean-Marie Denoix 4
Affiliations

1 1Dubai Equine Hospital, Zabeel, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
2 2School of Bioscience and Veterinary Medicine, University of Camerino, Macerata, Italy.
3 3Sports Horse Research Centre, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy.
4 4Cirale-EnvA Normandie Équine Vallée, Unité Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique-EnvA, Goustranville, France.

PMID: 39094625
DOI: 10.2460/javma.24.03.0211

Abstract

Objective: To describe the clinical diagnosis, ultrasound findings, and outcome of 11 endurance horses with injuries to the serratus ventralis thoracis (SVT) or serratus ventralis cervicis (SVC) muscle.

Animals: 11 endurance horses competing in medium- to high-level competitions and presenting with lameness caused by injuries to the SVT or SVC muscle, as confirmed by ultrasonography.

Clinical presentation: Physical examinations revealed swelling caudal to the shoulder region associated with dorsocranial displacement of the scapula and edema of the ventral thorax for horses with SVT injuries. Swelling cranial to the scapula and edema of the pectoral area were identified among horses with injuries to the SVC.

Results: Dynamic examinations revealed moderate-to-severe reduction of the cranial phase of the stride at the walk; at the trot, a lameness score of 2 to 3/5 was assigned (modified American Association of Equine Practitioners Lameness Scale). Ultrasonography revealed moderate-to-severe increases in size of the muscle body, heterogeneous echogenicity, loss of the striated muscle pattern, and varying degrees of perimuscular edema. All horses were able to resume full training and competition in an average of 216 days (range, 74 to 362 days) and 148 days (range, 112 to 309 days) for injuries of the SVT and SVC, respectively.

Clinical relevance: This case series is the first to describe the clinical and ultrasonographic features of spontaneous injuries to the SVT or SVC. Ultrasonography for diagnosis was simple and well tolerated by the horses.

Keywords: diagnostic imaging; endurance horse; equine lameness; equine ultrasound; lameness examination.