Staples to close wounds - can they cause pain?

Laramy80

Laramy80

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Hi,

So Ripley came in from the field last week (Tuesday) with a nice highish over-reach cut on her front leg. Vet came out and decided to staple it and bandaged it up. Came back on the friday and removed the bandage and the loose staples. We agreed that Ripley would stay on box rest but get some exercise under saddle and then start turn out on Monday and then remove the staples today. Everything was going fine, she went out yesterday then when I tacked her up to ride she was hopping lame at the trot on that leg :( Had thought it could be the staples bothering her as they had been in a week etc. Does this sound plausible?

Vet was out this morning and staples removed trotted her up after and still lame. Vet thought it could be the pain from the staples being removed. No swelling or heat in the leg. Other thought we had was maybe she has an abcess brewing but she is on long term antibiotics for her tooth infection...

So plan is box rest and if it is just the wound then she should be sound by Thursday if not vet back out...

Anyone had experience with anything like this?
 
Not much help but when my staples came out I have honestly never felt so much pain. I'm not a wimp, didn't cry when I broke my leg and managed to give birth without painkillers. I found having the staples out and the next few days incredibly painful!
Hope your pony is just sore and gets better soon :-)
 
J cut his pastern last autumn and had staples in it. I dont think the staples hurt as he let the vet put them in without sedation and then I accidentally pulled one out a few days later peeling off the bandage :o and he didn't notice. J also didn't notice when they were taken out and he wasn't sedated or injected with painkiller the vet just whipped them out in a nanosecond.
However J was a bit sore on the cut leg, he wasn't hobbling but he was uneven at trot. It took about 2/3 weeks after the staples were out before he was fully sound. The vet thought this was because he had bruised the bone when he cut his leg.
 
Having had 2 lots if staples in 3 wounds each time in my leg from intermullary nail insertion and removal (note to self, landing on feet not always a good idea when falling off onto hard ground!) I don't recall any specific pain from the staples? They got itchy certainly after a week but think that's the healing process and the actual removal was uncomfortable, stinging sensation rather than deep seated pain though. Once nails out no bother at all.
I'd be erring on side of firewell's comment above re bruising to bone though. Autumn of his 3 yr old year roo was kicked resulting in cut to top of splint bone on hind leg - he was lame to point vet suspected a fracture and even after xrays confirmed no fracture it took probably a month for him to be sound, xrays showed some peri-osteal (sp) growth where extra bone growth was laid down on site of kick trauma and that was partly why he was still sore.
Got a bit long winded but in summary would be surprised if actual staples were causing that level of lameness?
 
I had about 30 staples in my arm, and the pain from the injury was far greater than anything the staples did. It was uncomfortable to take out, but they had overgrown slightly as the NHS just dumped me and I had to sort staple removal myself.
 
Thanks for your replies!! R was not a fan of either getting them in or having them taken out. To have them in she needed both sedation and local anaesthetic and today to get them out took 3 of us and a twitch. So it's obviously sore and she doesn't look that comfortable on that leg. I wonder if she gave it a good bash when she over reached and perhaps now she's feeling the bruising?

What baffles me is why she's sore now a week later..hence why the questions about the staples. I spoke to some medics at work (perk of working with psychiatrists) and they did say that staples could be painful when in and the wound is healing and that it can be really sore getting them out.
 
My horse had staples twice, both times without worrying him (on his leg and on his flank). The vet let me take out one lot myself and he didn't appear to feel a thing.
 
Having recently had 47 staples removed I can say yes it hurts when they get removed and the wound site hurt for a few weeks afterwards. But every wound is different.
 
Stitches can 'pull' when you move, so would presume staples are the same - if its an area where the skin moves quite alot I'd imagine it isn't the most comfortable.

I certainly didn't do more than hobble with stitches in my foot becuase of the 'pull'
 
Agree with CrazyMare, stiches can definately pull, I had them aroundy collar bone area for 10 days, I did have a dressing on as well but felt very tight and restricted the movement! And some of the stiches were agony when they were taken out, was in tears, would say it hurt worse than breaking it, but at least it was over quicker, alltho it did feel weird for a couple of days. Different animals will react differently after my dog was spayed she was a drama queen, and we had to give her painkillers after she had her stiches out as she just kept howling looking at her belly and basically acting like she wanted to die, ie chucking herself on floor and hiding. She is fine now tho. I would suggest keeping a close eye for any heat or swelling tho.
 
Thanks for sharing your stories both human and animal with stitches and or staples. Ripley was definitely not wanting anyone to touch the staples so hopefully she is just being a wee bit of a drama queen and will be right in a few days! Her leg thus far has been good with no swelling or heat - but will definitely be keeping an eye on it.

Fingers crossed this sorts itself out soon!!!!!!!!
 
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