![]() If the fracture involves the coffin joint, the outlook (prognosis) is less good. If the fracture does not involve the coffin (coronopedal or P2/P3) joint, most heal well with rest and the application of a bar shoe. These most commonly occur if the horse kicks out at a wall or lands on an irregular surface. The most common fractures are:įractures of the pedal bone. Fractures usually occur either as a result of direct trauma from a fall, kick or knock or during strenuous exercise. The most common equine fractures involve the bones of the lower limbs. The description of a fracture may involve several of these terms, e.g., a compound displaced comminuted fracture of the cannon bone. As damage to soft tissue structures is also involved, these fractures may be difficult to heal.įractures that involve joints usually have a much poorer prognosis than those that do not, because arthritis and degenerative joint disease are common secondary problems causing problems after the fracture has healed. Depending on the bone and site involved, non-displaced fractures are usually easier to repair than displaced ones.Īvulsion fractures are where a piece of bone is pulled away by the abnormally strong action of an attached tendon or ligament. Small separated chip fractures freely-floating inside joints are sometimes called 'joint mice'.ĭisplaced fractures are those where the bone fragments have moved apart and there is a gap between them, whereas non-displaced fractures have maintained their normal positions and only a crack is visible. Large slab fractures, inside or outside joints, sometimes need surgical replacement with screw fixation. Outside joints may heal themselves with rest and time. Chip and slab fractures inside joints often need removal to discourage the formation of arthritis and degenerative joint disease. Compound fractures are usually contaminated with environmental debris and infected with their microorganisms, making successful treatment and repair more difficult and therefore the prognosis (prospects for likely outcome) less good and sometimes hopeless.Ĭhip fractures involve very small pieces of separated bone whereas larger fragments are called slab fractures. The incidence of catastrophic radial, tibial and other bone fractures in performance horses has reduced accordingly.Ĭompound (open) fractures involve broken overlying skin, sometimes with the broken bone end clearly visible, whereas in closed fractures, the overlying skin is intact. These fractures are now diagnosed by nuclear bone scanning (scintigraphic examinations) and are treated and managed accordingly. If not diagnosed as fractures and if the horse is exercised too soon, they extend to become complete fractures, with catastrophic results. These are initially painful but the pain often resolves relatively quickly before healing is complete. They sometimes involve multiple bone cracks from a central focus and are then sometimes called 'star' fractures. They may involve any of the limb bones but the radius and tibia are the most common sites. Stress fractures are small incomplete fractures, that most commonly occur in young athletic horses. In human orthopedics, these fractures are most commonly seen in children with soft, immature bones and are then often referred to as 'greenstick' fractures. Incomplete fractures are cracks that involve only one cortex (side) of the bone and therefore, although painful, remain stable unless they become complete fractures, when the bone fragments separate. Depending on the bone and site involved, simple fractures are usually easier to repair than comminuted ones. Simple fractures have only one fracture line whereas comminuted fractures have multiple fracture lines and pieces of bone have become separated. There is a range of terms used to describe fractures, based upon visible and x-ray examinations: Whether other important soft-tissue structures are involved. The size, age, temperament and use of the horse or pony. Which bone and which part of the bone is involved. The severity of a fracture depends upon several factors: Fortunately many, but not all fractures can now be repaired if diagnosed and managed appropriately at an early stage. Just about every bone in the body can be fractured but fractures of the bones of the limbs are of major importance in horses and ponies. A fracture is a crack or break in a bone.
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