Fractured Splint bone

Yes, had one with a 14hh NF who was also SHP/WHP & daughters dearly beloved.
Shattered splint bone, part severed tendon & also suspensory all done by a kick from a grumpy UNSHOD pony in the field. Looked a minor wound till I found I could slide all 4 fingers of 1 hand up inside it :(
Prob around 1996 or 97 I think.
Operated on by Simon Knapp of Scott Dunn's, several bits of the bone were fished out - she stayed in 3 days & then came home.
I had to carry on with meds etc & changing dressings with Simon coming in to check. Huge row of staples healed really well, it was the wound on the tendon that took time, but we kept on with dressings for the month or so after & eventually it closed up.
Box rest for 2 months in deep wall-to-wall clean shavings bed, then in hand walking on level surface only building up from 5 mins a day to 20mins twice a day over 8 weeks. She was so weak the 1st time that we just got to yard gate & back.
Then when still showing sound, she was ridden out walking for another 6 weeks til we were doing an hour plus on the bridle.

From being kicked in the March, the pony was back out in the hunting field in the November & competing in WHP winter classes in the January.
Could not see the scarring in winter, only a tiny amount in the summer.
She was the 'case star recovery' of the unit back then :)

Different recovery for each animal tho, what has your friends one done?
 
We've had 2. One was a shattered splint bone on a hind leg. Fragments wouldn't heal, so he was operated on to remove the whole thing. He was fine after that. Just a few post-op problems with the wound.
Other one was near the hock of our 15.2 mare. Again, healed fine, but because it was an open wound near the hock joint, she was admitted to leahurst for a week for anti-b's & observation.
Both had cartrophen injections & several months of box rest. Both were the result of kicks from other horses.
I'd recommend cold water hydrotherapy salt spas to aid the healing process :)
 
The strange thing is with this one is there is no wound and no obvious sign of injury, he came in from field lame one day, vet initially diagnosed "tweaked suspensory" and prescribed 4 weeks box rest when he came out again and did nerve blocks and x rays, came up with diagnosis of fracture of the splint bone and said he could go back out during the day in small turnout area! Seems strange to me, horse is still quite lame as well!!?
 
My mare was kicked just below the hock in 1995.

shattered her splint bone in 19 pieces which I still have.

I had the pieces removed she healed up well considering she got kicked on the site 3 more time while healing by bullies which is why i moved.
you can still see the scar line in summer . her leg is a little more filled after being in. Apart from that it has caused her no more problems.:)

We were concerned the hock would get infected but with antibiotics we lucked out :D
 
If he's still that lame, Im surprised too. Murphy's wasn't healing, so it wasn't until 5 months after the initial injury that he was operated on. He was on boxrest that whole time (plus 2 months after that). Apparently the fragments had been irritating the surrounding tendons & ligaments & caused inflammation.
Was it just a hairline fracture or a clean break?
 
emmaln said:
The strange thing is with this one is there is no wound and no obvious sign of injury, he came in from field lame one day, vet initially diagnosed "tweaked suspensory" and prescribed 4 weeks box rest when he came out again and did nerve blocks and x rays, came up with diagnosis of fracture of the splint bone and said he could go back out during the day in small turnout area! Seems strange to me, horse is still quite lame as well!!?
Click to expand...

If your horse is going to break someting a splint bone would be my preference! Usually easy and quick to sort out. After 4 weeks box rest I'd be hoping the horse would be showing significantly sounder/sound, the bulk of the healing should by that point be done. If your horse is still lame I'd be questioning why, and if not getting a good enough answer from your own vet, it might be worth considering a second opinion.
 
A friend of mine has a china 3/4TB 1/4ID who fractured a splint bone, kick from a rather large horse in the field (who he had been bullying). No broken skin, just a fair bit of swelling. He broke it in two places and at the time was getting older (16/17 I think) - luckily it was on his only remaining insured leg otherwise it would have been very expensive. He was on box rest and went onto some anti-depressant type medication to help with that. For the first month or so he didn't seem to be healing and the Vet actually mentioned that if the next x-ray showed no improvement then my friend would have to consider letting him go. I think he heard because suddenly the improvement was impressive from then on. I think it was about 3 months after the incident he started to go out and another couple of months before he was ridden again. She took her time bringing him back into work as he was getting older and known to be delicate but around a year after the accident he was back cantering, schooling and hacking.
 
Had two. First double fracture to hind splint bone. Vet xrayed and said to turn out and leave for 5 - 6 weeks. Horse made a full recovery.

Second was shattered hind splint bone. Operated on and fragments removed, another full recovery.
 
TB fractured and displaced the bottom inch of her splint bone. Lump but not lame even the vet couldn't see any lameness and was v surprised to find displaced fracture. Surgery to remove loose fragment and to saw off bottom of the splint bone. 8 wks box rest, controlled return to work and no further problems for 5 yrs. she then tore her check ligament in that leg which may/may not have been because that leg was destabilised. Fully recovered from ligament injury and returned to full work 4 years ago.
 
Bump and graze to inside of mid cannon which wouldn't heal. X-ray revealed bottom inch of splint fractured off. Turned out (but unridden) for 4wks,fracture healed fine and fortunately the end that had fractured off didn't prove problematic,so surgery not required. Full recovery(was never lame at any point with it tho).
 
friends irish draught was kicked as a two year old, lame but splint bone only fractured and no displacement. box rested for two weeks then field rested until he was broken last autumn - was on/off lame for around 4 months though. Now in full work with no problems.
 
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