Feasibility and safety of lumbosacral epiduroscopy in the standing horse.

Summary

# Lumbosacral Epiduroscopy in Standing Horses: Bridging a Diagnostic Gap Chronic caudal back pain in horses presents a persistent diagnostic challenge, as the size and anatomy of the equine lumbosacral region limits conventional imaging's ability to identify underlying pathology. Researchers investigated whether lumbosacral epiduroscopy—a minimally invasive endoscopic technique already established in human medicine for visualising the epidural space and treating chronic back pain—could be safely and feasibly performed in standing, sedated horses. The team developed and refined the procedural technique whilst evaluating safety parameters, haemodynamic responses, and the quality of epidural visualisation across their experimental cohort. This work demonstrates that standing lumbosacral epiduroscopy is technically achievable and safe in horses, potentially offering clinicians direct visualisation of pathology such as fibrosis, adhesions, and nerve root compression that remain invisible on radiography, ultrasound, and even advanced imaging. For equine practitioners managing horses with intractable sacroiliac or lumbosacral dysfunction, this technique represents a significant diagnostic tool—and potentially a therapeutic one—that could replace exploratory approaches currently limited by imaging constraints.

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Key Findings

• •Lumbosacral epiduroscopy is feasible to perform in standing horses without advanced imaging modalities
• •The technique can potentially bridge diagnostic gaps in horses with chronic caudal back pain where traditional imaging fails
• •Epiduroscopy allows direct visualization of the lumbosacral epidural space for diagnosis and therapeutic intervention

Conditions Studied

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