Cannon bone fractures - prognosis and experiences

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Flicker

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Good and bad please.

Suspected fracture of either cannon or splint bone or both - caused by a massive kick in the field. Not my horse thank heavens, but I've said I would find out as much as I could for my friend (who is understandably very concerned).
 
TBH, don't know too much but I do know, if it's fixable (and many aren't) that the horse has to be good patient material that will accept not only box rest but being cross tied for maybe many weeks. It will also depend on the owner's nursing skills and availability to be there for mid day feed/massage etc, not just at both ends of the day; plus of course the money available to see it through as it might take far more than her insurance options.
A lot for me would depend on how bad it is, what the horse is used for and would it still be able to do that, what the character is like so if it would accept that much restriction for possibly many months, the facilities I had available and so on whether I would go further than the x-rays to ascertain the damage. Also bear in mind that even after all the treatment, there's nothing to say that the leg will have improved sufficiently so you could still end up with the decision you have now.
Let us know how it goes please, it's never a nice time until you know for sure the extent of the damage when to a certain extent, your mind can be made up for you.
 
Thank you very much for your very honest response. It certainly does look serious, although owner is currently waiting on the results of x-rays to confirm one way or another.

*****huge sigh*****

I will keep you posted. We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed at the moment.
 
Sorry I couldn't help more but each case will be different anyway, it's just the basics that stay the same of will the horse cope, can the owner afford that treatment, can it get back to what it was and if not can it cope with being a field ornament; basically the quality of life for the patient not just during treatment but in the years to come.
I hope it's not as serious as it seems, will keep things crossed for your friend.
 
A few years ago a friends horse took a kick and fractured a front canon. His injury was found to be a spiral fracture so the decision was taken to put him in a Robert Jones and cross tie him. I have a feeling he stood there for 12 weeks. He did adapt (or possibly switch off) quite quickly and for a big and fairly opinionated horse was surprisingly good to deal with. It was a serious amount of work however and involved a serious amount of money over the months with the owner trying to cope with her worry about him as well as the time she had to find to care for him.

He came out of the box not quite sound and sadly remained that way although the fracture itself had healed.

I think you need to hang on for the xray results and then, if treatment is possible, make a decision about how your friend could cope with a potentially lame pet. Its all down to the xrays Im afraid. Must be a terrible time for your friend.
 
As others have said I think much depends on the seriousness of the break (type of/size etc) and how the horse takes to being a patient.

Certainly these days breaks are more fixable than they used to be as there is a lot more knowledge and veterinary techniques have moved on. There are many success stories out there of horses who have gone back to a normal ridden and competitive life. I know of a racehorse who had a metal plate fitted following a break, his owner then put him on a livery to sell as a riding horse, couldn't sell him and was going to have him PTS. My friend took him on for free (she is experienced with racehorses) and they even set about getting him hurdling again. However, it seemed he just was not fast enough or didn't show he was keen enough so they ended up selling him on as a normal riding horse and as far as I know he is doing RC stuff, jumping etc with his new owner.

So, it certainly isn't all doom and gloom.

Oh and as far as I know it's not so serious if just a fractured splint bone. I believe the splint bone can actually be removed (don't quote me on that though - I just recall a horse having some op to remove them many years ago)
 
I had a horse with a healed star fracture of a hind cannon bone (from a kick) which caused no trouble at all. I don't know what the previous owner did to get it sound but I bought it off the vet, at an auction, in payment of the debt for the vets bill :(
 
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