Puncture wound in frog caused by nail

[Nickijem]

Hi,
I brought Jerry in yesterday - he was hopping lame with a nail in his frog. It didn't look deep (in the dim light of the stable) so I carefully removed it and there was no blood but I hosed it and sprayed it with anti-septic.
I called the vet this morning to check it. She found that the wound was deeper than I thought and it was dangerously close to the navicular bursa. She is concerned that it may cause an infection in the navicular bursa and/or the pedal bone, either of which would be very serious
Jerry is on anti-biotics and on box-rest. I just wondered if anyone else has has experience of a similar nature (good or bad) and how long the recovery took?
Thank you - I am feeling quite depressed that a seemingly little wound can be so serious.

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

O dear Nicki poor Jerry

It sounds like you have done all the right things and quickly enough so fingers crossed it is nothng more than a few days of box rest and antibiotics, poultices etc etc

Nothing else helpful to add

 

[TigerTail]

oo ouch poor neddy!

I suggest you get some of this stuff ordered - tis amazing for plugging holes, and staying in at least the whole day. Tis all natural, non necrotising so will keep the whole clean and dry

http://www.redhorseproducts.com/Hoof_Care/Hoof_Stuff

 

[Nickijem]

Ooh thanks for that! I'll order some of that!

 

[alsiola]

If your horse is insured, or you have the money, then I would get more investigation done now - even when treated quickly and appropriately then navicular bursa sepsis has a guarded prognosis. If it is left untreated (and antibiotics alone will not treat it) then the prognosis gets worse by the day.
If you are uninsured then hope that it did not penetrate the bursa. Certainly deep wounds to the frog can cause severe lameness without sepsis, so it is not hopeless.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

I'd be very cautious about plugging up the hole until the extent of the injury is known. You could be stopping it draining - check with your vet first. A poultice might be better, that would draw any contamination/infection out rather than just bung the hole up. Good luck.

 

[Andalucian]

You've done all you can for now. Its a waiting game I'm afraid from here. The only way you would know whether it has pierced the joint is if you had xrayed before removing the nail, that time has passed, so keep him treated with A/Bs, and keep the foot clean.

Consider the situation very serious until you find out that you're in the clear, that way you'll do all the right things. More than one course of A/Bs is common in this situation by the way.

Fingers crossed for you both.

 

[pintoluv13]

If your horse is insured, or you have the money, then I would get more investigation done now - even when treated quickly and appropriately then navicular bursa sepsis has a guarded prognosis. If it is left untreated (and antibiotics alone will not treat it) then the prognosis gets worse by the day.
If you are uninsured then hope that it did not penetrate the bursa. Certainly deep wounds to the frog can cause severe lameness without sepsis, so it is not hopeless.

This...unfortunately was a horse at my barn, that had a nail in his frog. Caught it right away, went into the navicular bursa. After 2 surgeries the horse was put down. It can be very serious, seems like at this point you've done the best you can. Keep a close eye on him. Lots of Jingles for a simple and easy recovery from the U.S!

 

[lazybee]

You could take a look at this thread:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=495332

 

[Silent Knight]

I'd be very cautious about plugging up the hole until the extent of the injury is known. You could be stopping it draining - check with your vet first. A poultice might be better, that would draw any contamination/infection out rather than just bung the hole up. Good luck.

^^^^^This^^^^^
Get it in a bucket of warm water and epsom salts as often as you can

 

[Miss L Toe]

Keep the vet updated every day , inspect foot for changes, I would change poultice as frequently as vet recommends, take temperature, keep bedding immaculate.

 

[Nickijem]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Jerry still seems ok this morning and isn't lame at all in walk so that is positive. The vet is quite hopeful now that the nail has not gone into the navicular bursa as he would be lame. I have to keep the bandage on for 3 days then I have to ring the vet with an update on how he is. We are all keeping fingers crossed for a straight forward recovery. At least he is being a well behaved patient at the mo. I don't think he minds being on box rest while the weather is like this!

 

[galaxy]

Having known 2 horses with nails in their feet, one went straight to hospital (with nail still in foot!) had lots of treatment and scans and had a deep infection and has a poor prognosis, the other one the vet removed the nail, horse walked away sound. Washed thoroughly, poulticed and then we waited. The vet said if there was going to be an infection the horse would be on 3 legs within 2-12 hours generally. Luckily he never went lame. So bandaged and box rested for a coupld of weeks for hole to heal and the horse never looked back.

I would never recommend taking the nail out yourself.... always call a vet asap. Some times they will want to xray before removing the nai to see where it has penetrated.

 

[Nickijem]

Thanks GM, that is encouraging as it had been nearly 48 hours since i discovered the nail and he still is sound. I too would not recommend removing the nail myself except that the nail in Jerry's foot was bent and it appeared to be just the tip stuck in the frog. I removed it to stop anymore of the nail going deeper. It was only after i removed it that i saw that it was about 2cm of the nail that had gone into his foot. Considering it was about a 4inch nail he was very lucky! But I completely agree with your advice and am sorry to hear about the horse with the poor prognosis. I can completely sympathise, it is devastating that a seemingly minor incident can be so serious.

 

[galaxy]

I would be feeling very positive on the prognosis (obv cautious!) at the moment.

I was there with the 2nd horse and we held his foot up for an hour waiting for the vet!!! We all needed to see the chiropractor afterwards! lol!

 

[Izzwizz]

We had a horse who stood on a nail, it went through her frog but at a horizontal angle, not upwards. One of the things we did was to stand her foot in a bucket of as warm as possible water with salt in. We did this 2-3 times a day and it was to help draw out any pus. We never saw any and she made a full recovery. Good luck with yours.

 

[Nickijem]

Hi I just thought I would update on Jerry.
Thankfully he never showed any signs of lameness. I kept the foot bandaged with duck tape and a boot and cleaned it twice a day. He was kept in for 6days and then put out for a roll and hoon about before being cleaned again. Now nearly 2 weeks later everything is back to normal
I rode him yesterday and he was completely sound and quite glad to get out on a hack I think as he was so forward going
Thanks to everyone for your helpful posts

 

[millimoo]

Thank goodness, brilliant news

 

[Izzwizz]

Fab news! x