A flexion test is a preliminary veterinary procedure performed on a horse, generally during a prepurchase or a lameness exam. The animal's leg is held in a flexed position for 30 seconds to up to 3 minutes (although most veterinarians do not go longer than a minute), and then the horse is immediately trotted off and its gait is analyzed for abnormalities and uneveness. The flexion places stress on the joint capsule and soft tissue of the joint, and sometimes the cartilage and bone, usually accentuating any lameness that is present, such as arthritis. The horse may take a few uneven steps, or may be lame for several minutes following the procedure.
Read more about Flexion Test: Specificity, Gait Evaluation, Usefulness
Famous quotes containing the word test:
“Experimental work provides the strongest evidence for scientific realism. This is not because we test hypotheses about entities. It is because entities that in principle cannot be ‘observed’ are manipulated to produce a new phenomena
[sic] and to investigate other aspects of nature.”
—Ian Hacking (b. 1936)