Park Equine Hospital Adds Standing Equine MRI

Kentucky-based Park Equine Hospital recently expanded its state-of-the-art diagnostics suite with the installation of a Standing Equine MRI system from Hallmarq Veterinary Imaging.

Located in the heart of the Kentucky Bluegrass, Park Equine Hospital offers primary care to local horse owners and advanced services to patients in Kentucky and surrounding states. Park is focused on providing personal service and specialized care that is tailored to the needs of each patient.

Smaller than typical equine veterinary practices, owners John and Tonya Park like to think big. The decision to install a Standing Equine MRI was both a business decision as well as a personal one.

"We are pleased and excited to offer the Hallmarq Standing MRI here at Park Equine Hospital. This high-power imaging modality is an extremely beneficial tool for all horses, especially for sport and performance horses. When one of our personal horses needed an MRI, we did not want to lay the horse down under general anesthesia. After hauling 5 hours to the nearest standing MRI, we decided to partner with Hallmarq to offer a safer option to horse owners here in central Kentucky," explains John C. Park, DVM and owner of Park Equine.

With standing MRI, high quality images are captured with the use of light sedation instead of general anesthesia. The standing option allows for early and accurate diagnosis with much less risk to the horse, which can safely return home the same day.

Standing MRI can also improve the ability to identify preexisting conditions, an important step in ensuring horse safety and welfare. Acquiring detailed images of the distal limbs, or everything below the knee and hock, has proven to be diagnostic in over 90% of lameness cases with injuries often visible weeks before they can be seen on X-ray. Quick, safe and proven diagnosis helps veterinarians make informed treatment decisions to provide owners more definitive information on prognosis and their horse's ability to return to work.

Invariably a cycle of trial and review, lameness diagnosis traditionally relies on a slow process of elimination, with endless rounds of stall-rest and expensive treatment options. With MRI however, this can make a significant difference for the competition rider contemplating an event within the coming weeks. This is one of the many reasons that Park sees patients that have been referred by their local veterinarians when horses present with suspected injuries or lameness in the leg. Veterinarians working with Park Equine now have access to the unique technology afforded by the Standing Equine MRI system to diagnose and pinpoint problems.

Park Equine Hospital offers ambulatory and in-house services for general medicine, sports medicine, lameness, general reproduction, advanced diagnostics and comprehensive elective and emergency surgery. The addition of standing MRI complements the other diagnostic tools available in Park Equine Hospital's diagnostic suite, which includes digital radiography, endoscopy, ultrasound, acupuncture, shockwave and regenerative laser.