Comparison of equine articular cartilage thickness in various joints

Thicknesses of fresh equine articular cartilage surfaces from the fetlock, carpal and stifle joints were measured employing a needle probe test.

Eighty-seven samples used in measurement were cultivated from fetlock, carpal and stifle joints of 12 deceased within 4 h of death. After approximately three minutes of exposure to air during dissection, all cartilage samples were preserved in a saline solution to keep the articular cartilage hydrated for testing. The thickness was measured on five different spots on the same sample. The thicknesses of the fetlock, carpus and stifle were compared.

The articular cartilage of the stifle was thicker than the fetlock and carpus, while the fetlock and the carpus had similar thickness values. The average thickness of the fetlock, carpal and stifle joint are 0.86, 0.87 and 2.1 mm, respectively. They were statistically compared using the Student t-test. The differences on the articular cartilage thicknesses between the fetlock and stifle, and carpus and stifle were "very highly significant" (p < 0.001). This indicates that the articular cartilage thickness of the stifle is significantly different from that of the fetlock and carpus. Four different surfaces in the fetlock and four in the carpal joint were also compared. Significant differences between each set of the four surfaces were not observed. In the carpus, the difference in thickness between the distal radius and proximal third carpal bone articular cartilage surfaces as well as the proximal radial carpal bone and distal radial carpal bone articular cartilage surfaces were statistically significant.