Investigating conditioned pain modulation in horses: can the lip-twitch be used as a conditioning stimulus?

Study objective was to evaluate whether the application of a lip twitch could be proposed as conditioning stimulus in the context of a novel Conditioned Pain Modulation (CPM) assessment paradigm for use in horses. The study was a prospective, experimental, randomized trial. Twelve healthy horses were evaluated in two experimental sessions.

Pressure pain mapping of equine distal joints: feasibility and reliability.

Background: Osteoarthritis is a prevalent degenerative joint disease initiating chronic pain and lameness in horses. While several objective gait analysis systems have been developed and validated to quantify lameness severity in horses, methods to evaluate whether peripheral sensitization contributes to the pain experienced are missing.

Objectives: To evaluate whether periarticular pressure pain mapping could be proposed as an auxiliary assessment tool in horses.