urgent response needed- fractured splint

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jessandthegirls

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hello... this afternoon i brought my mare in from the field today to ride. Got as far as her stable before noticing an incredibly swollen hock and splint... in fact the entire leg had blown up like a balloon. She's has really adverse reactions to bites and midges, so i was expecting it to be that. Her leg in fact looked like a chain saw had been taken to it. The wound was approx an inch deep and a good proportion of bone was visible.

The vet has confirmed it to be a fractured splint. She thinks judging by the soundness of the horse, it is unlikely she has damaged the suspensory ligaments. this much i can handle.... just :(...... however, she thinks there may be a piece of bone that has chipped and travelled up the leg. She would like to give it 24hours to drop, x-ray in the morning- to rule out damage to cannon bone as well as locating the chip. if the chip hasn't dropped, they will do a standing operation to "scrape the bone".

It has to be what every horse owner dreads, i can only assume she was kicked by one of her field mates. She is now in her stable, cross tied- my partner and i are taking it in turns to sit with her through the night, as she is full of sedatives but must not lay down. The vet asked me "what i had to spend" and i just said to get her right. does anyone know roughly how much im looking at? we're talking, 2-3 callouts, antibiotics, bute, anti inflamitorys, dressings, x-ray..... thats not including the possible op.

shes a light hack mare, but shes my little girl and although im trying to put a hard face on things i cant help worrying. just pray pray tomorrow the bone will have dropped and the vet can rule out cannon bone damage.

anyone who has been through the same thing- i would really really appreciate some wise words.

thank you x x
 
I was all ready to post as I though you meant horse had a fractured splint bone but have not had experience of this. I know horses can easily live without the splint bone but damage to the cannon bone is more serious. I would say the biggest problem is more likely to be the infection risk. I really hope it's not too serious and she's ok. And try get some sleep, as hard as it is you'll be better equipped to make any descisions. Many hugs!!
 
my pony when i was a child had pretty much the same as you describe, several floating bone fragments and had a standing op to remove them - i actually stayed and saw the vet flicking them out of the large hole in her leg :-o !!!

my pony also had severe ligament damage and a crack to the cannon bone. my pony was in a cast and box rested for a very long time but that was due to the ligament and cannon bone. vet said if it had just been the splint bone (as was oringinally thought she would just need antibiotics, painkillers and rest and should be able to start walking out after re x raying at 6 weeks.

even with the cannon bone and ligament involvement my pony came back into full work, jumping dressage etc.

as for cost - mine was very expensive due to a long hospital stay with the cannon bone issue so was in excess of £5000. - dont panic though, doubt yours will be that much but prepare your self that if yours needs to go and stay in hospital to have the procedure you will probably from my experience with other hospital 'incidents' be looking at £500 to £1000. its impossible to say really depening on what they find.

good luck, if i can be of any help pm me x
 
whiteflower said:
as for cost - mine was very expensive due to a long hospital stay with the cannon bone issue so was in excess of £5000. - dont panic though, doubt yours will be that much but prepare your self that if yours needs to go and stay in hospital to have the procedure you will probably from my experience with other hospital 'incidents' be looking at £500 to £1000. its impossible to say really depening on what they find.
Click to expand...

Probably not a bad starting point.

Don't panic about the splint bone - probably quite straightforward to sort and more often than not the cannon is not involved.

Best of luck, try not to worry too much until you have xrays of the cannon to confirm one way or another.
Imogen
 
Thank you all :)

Did manage to get some sleep. She doesn't make it easy by any stretch- they both live out due her passionate hate for her stable. Im talking weaving, cribbing, box walking- even attempts to get over the door. my usually quiet as a mouse school mistress turns into the devil horse the second the door is bolted. she had her field mate next door last night so she was marginally better. Still incredibly sweated up this morning- despite being cross tied did still try and get on her knees to and roll- poor itchy madam.

She's really well in herself and has taken her antibiotics this morning. I shouldn't temp fate but i'm quietly hopefully there isn't any damage to the cannon.

Whiteflower you were brave to watch the removal of the fragments!! The vet yesterday had her fingers well and truly up and inside the leg... that was quite enough for me!

X-ray and potential standing cut @ 1pm, so i will keep you posted. x x
 
A friends horse had a similar injury as yours to a front splint bone. Initially the wound had been poulticed but continued to ooze pus. Vet had horse in for Xray and found that the splint bone was broken and infected.

Broken bone was removed the area was cleaned up and antibiotics given - horse was sound and competing again only a few weeks later.
 
Hello :) Big smiles! I had a different vet yesterday- an older guy. He was absolutey awesome- great guy. Sods law, i unclipped her to lead her out, saw the vet drive straight past the barn, chucked the lead rope over her neck and ran out to wave him in.... by the time we'd walked back to the stable, she was laying down! Little monster, he got her up with a bit of a struggle.

He opened the dressing and had a good poke around inside. He said juding by the amount of weight she was able to bare on it he doubted very much it was the cannon and was not worried about x-raying at this stage. He wasn't able to rule out suspensory's- but will do that in two weeks, once she has been box rested and the wound has started to heal. i.e doesnt want to walk her around too much at this stage.

His main concern was the size of the open wound- and the risk of infection. So he has upped her antibiotics and will send a nurse to re-dress it weekly :)

No standing cut needed as the fragment had dropped!! :)

i hope i've covered everything.... i've retold the story a few times now!! With regards to cost, she already tends to our cattle and dogs- and has my 4 horses on their books... so i keep them in new cars as it is! Having said that he was generous and shook my hand on £200. I did say "shake your hand?! i'll blo*dy kiss you!!"

So all is well.... now just keeping the monster amused in her stable. The other 3 are taking it in turns to babysit her and shes full of sedalin.

Life looks a lot brighter today- thank to everyone for your replies... i'll post a pic of peg leg x x x
 
A splint injury although seem and are often treated with great success.
A couple of my horses have had fractured splint and been totally fine after.

At the beginning of the year i look on a horse for a friend.
To cut a long story short, he had to have his bone scraped.
Box rest building up of work and made a great recovery.
His bill was approximately £3500, luckily he was insured.

I hope your mare make a quick recovery.
 
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