Soft Tissue Palpation

Question 1

What is palpation?

Answer 1

The process of using your hands to assess the body.

Question 2

What do we assess?

Answer 2

temperature
tone
texture
tenderness

Question 3

What might increased temperature indicate?

Answer 3

increased circulation
inflammation
acute injury

Question 4

What might decreased temperature indicate?

Answer 4

decreased circulation

sometimes due to chronic muscle contraction

Question 5

What is hypertonic and what does it indicate?

Answer 5

increased tone

increased muscle activity

Question 6

What does hypotonic and what does it indicate?

Answer 6

decreased tone

decreased muscle activity

Question 7

What might texture may indicate?

Answer 7

swelling/ oedema
adhesions
fibrotic (stringy texture)
tightness
thickening

Question 8

What might tenderness indicate?

Answer 8

pain
hyper/hyposensitivity
muscle spasm/ fasciculation
behavioural indicators

Question 9

How should you palpate?

Answer 9

.Introduce yourself to the animal first
•De-sensitise them to your touch
•Start off very lightly
•Gradually increase the pressure to palpate deeper layers of tissue
•The deeper the go, the slower you move your hands
•Consider position of body parts

Question 10

What do the muscles around the atlas and axis do?

Answer 10

flex and extend the atlantooccipital joint

rotate the atlantoaxial

Question 11

What do the neck muscles do?

Answer 11

• Stabilise the neck
• When contract unilaterally, they laterally bend the neck
• Ventral neck muscles flex the neck
• Dorsal neck muscles extend the neck

Question 12

What do the thoracic sling do?

Answer 12

•Suspend trunk between forelimbs

• Pectorals
• Serratus ventralis cervicis and thoracis
• Latissimus dorsi
• Trapezius cervicis and thoracis
• Rhomboideus cervicis and thoracis

Question 13

What do the pectorals do?

Answer 13

• Attach the forelimbs to the trunk
• Attach onto the sternum
• Protract/ retract forelimb
• Adduct forelimb

Question 14

What do paraspinal muscles do?

Answer 14

• Stabilise the vertebral column

* Extend and laterally bend spine

Question 15

What do the abdominal muscles do?

Answer 15

• Support the trunk
• Flex the trunk
• Aid inspiration and expiration
• Aid parturition, defecation and micturition
• The rectus abdominis also flexes the vertebral column, particularly the lumbosacral joint

Question 16

What are the equine gluteals?

Answer 16

EQUINE
•Gluteus superficialis
•Gluteus medius
•Gluteus profundus
•Gluteus accessorius

Question 17

What are the canine gluteals?

Answer 17

CANINE
•Gluteus superficialis
•Gluteus medius
•Gluteus profundus
•Piriformis

Question 18

What are the hamstrings?

Answer 18

• Biceps femoris
• Semitendinosus
• Semimembranosus
• Muscularis abductor cruris caudalis (canine only)

Question 19

What do the hamstrings do?

Answer 19

• Retracts hind limb
• Extends the hip and stifle
• Flexes the stifle
• Biceps femoris and semitendinosus
• Biceps femoris abducts hind limb
• Semitendinosus and semimembranosus adducts hind limb
• Semimembranosus, and semitendinosus in the dog, pronate hind limb

Question 20

What are the quadriceps?

Answer 20

• Rectus femoris
• Vastus lateralis
• Vastus intermedius
• Vastus medialis

Question 21

What do the quadriceps do?

Answer 21

• Extend and stabilise the stifle

* The rectus femoris also flexes the hip

Question 22

Was is fasciculation?

Answer 22

a brief spontaneous contraction affecting a small number of muscle fibres, often causing a flicker of movement under the skin.

Question 23

What are the superficial masticatory muscles?

Answer 23

Temporalis and Masseter

- massetatory role (chewing)

Question 24

What is tone?

Answer 24

density

Question 25

What is texture?

Answer 25

the feel

Question 26

What is temperature?

Answer 26

feel for heat or lack of heat- light touch

Question 27

What is tenderness?

Answer 27

pain