splint bone and cannon bone fracture advice?

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phoenix26

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My 6 year old warmblood has been diagnosed with a shattered splint bone which on vets advice was either going to be operated on to have the bottom piece removed or left to see if it would heal. Since having his xrays they were sent off to equine specialists to look at and they have found that his cannon bone is also chipped and has a hairline fracture, he will be going to Bristol in a coupe of weeks to have surgery, they are optimistic about his recovery etc. Have many people had this with their own horse? and also what was the treatment/outcome? He moves around his stable well, is sore on it obviously, not lying down as much as he was, swelling gone down a lot and not a lot of pus coming out of the hole now. Any comments/advice appreciated. Thanks
 
I had a horse many years ago that had a badly damaged splint bone, originally it was just thought to be a nasty puncture wound, when it did not respond to treatment x rays showed the bone was splintered. He went for surgery, part of the splint bone was removed, following his box rest and some time turned away he came back to full work and later passed a 5 stage vetting, with the injury declared. He was left with a slightly thickened area but this seemed to make the bone stronger, there was no restriction to his movement and once he was back in work I just treated him as normal, although I did always use boots on him.
 
Not the cannon, but had a 14hh shp/whp that had a shattered splint bone due to a kick from a small pony in the field.
What I thought was a nasty gash on the NH turned out to be a bloody big slash & the shattered bone.
Operated and vet (Simon Knapp) removed 6 seperate pieces of bone, she came home as soon as could travel and after 12 weeks box rest etc (and removing staples etc) I had that pony out competing for the 1st spring shows in March & hunting with the drag hunt 10 months after the damage was done (Nov)

Good luck, hope it works out for you, just keep to the progamme that your vet gives you for aftercare :)
 
Provided that there are no complications during op/recovery then there shouldn't really be any restrictions on your horses furture career - apart from maybe showing as I am guessing that there will be scaring.

I've seen plenty of cracked bones in various places and all of these have come back into work and raced on with no further problems with that leg/injury.

Treatment is usually 8-10 weeks box rest depending on the serverity of the injury and how quickly it heals or 12-14weeks if op'd on. Then gradual walking work in-hand for a few mins at a time building it up. After a month and a bit of this then turnout and back into normal work gradually.
 
A mare on our yard was discharged from horsepital last Monday with the splint fracture - there were a few chips on her cannon bone but nothing more serious - which the vet trimmed and smoothed off having picked out the bone fragments.

She's been walked out in hand for ten minutes a day all week. Her stitches and staples came out yesterday and now the wound's healed she can have VERY limited turnout (ie five minutes in the isolation paddock under strict supervision). The mare isn't even lame - just lifts the leg a little higher than normal.

The vet's coming out on 20 January, when she will ask her owner to get on her* and see how it goes, assuming the healing process continues as it has so far. This will be eight weeks from the original injury.

*Owner isn't clear whether this will be just a little sit or a short walk, but she's cr@pping herself as obviously she can't lunge the horse beforehand.
 
thanks, all seems quite positive so far, i was optimistic when it was the splint bone but more worried when the vet said he had a hairline fracture to the canon bone. he is insured thankfully but they will only pay up to 3000 for treatment so im not sure if it will all be covered? its all adding up quickly. im putting him on comfrey tomorrow, has anyone used this with their horses injuries?
 
Avoid the use of comfrey in horses as it is hepato- toxic. I'm currently dealing with a couple of cases of comfrey toxicity in horses ( one has died and one has been PTS). Be very wary if using it in horses as it has very similar effects to ragwort.
 
No experience of this type of injury although I'm sure it's more common than you think.

Fingers crossed operation goes well and he makes a full recovery :)
 
Hi, my mare is being x rayed today for the same thing, seems to be the injury of choice at the moment! Nearly every one who replyed to my post had a positive out come and all that I have read says the same. I am now all most hoping thats why she lame! Good luck.
 
I had one with a fractured splint bone came back to a full show jumping career for many years !! I still have him at 29yo too never been lame on it since x
 
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