Worst Xmas day ever. Fractured splint bone

Peanot

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My horse on Xmas day came in with a puncture wound on his right foreleg. I cleaned it in saline solution and bandaged it up. The wound wasn't very big but quite deep so I spoke to vet who advised it would be ok to leave til morning.
Long story short, he could feel the splint bone was fractured so off we went to the horse hospital where x-rays confirmed a straight break to the distal splint bone. It is the lower 3rd. Vet gave standing surgery, with sedation to remove about 5-6 tiny fragments of bone and tried to pull out the long snapped off piece but as it was attached so solid, he decided to leave it and pushed it back in line with the remaining splint bone. He was not lame on it at all and still isn't 2 days post op, but it is swollen obviously and bandaged up very big. They are saying that as it is attached so strong that it has a good chance of joining up with the main splint bone and shouldn't cause any more problems but I've been reading up and most of what I can find, have had the broken bits removed, but all with 100% success rate and a return to normal work. We will know more when they take more x-rays but I'm asking if anyone else had had this happen as I know it's very common. Did you have it removed or left in n did it join the main bone and heal?
This has been devastating for me as I am heartbroken as I'm one of those owners who try and wrap them up in cotton wool and do everything properly. Thank you in advance for your replies.
 

googol

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Sorry no helpful reply but sending u loads of healing vibes :( really feel for u. So far the prognosis sounds good tho so stay positive
 

ruth83

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Knew one when I was younger - as in not old enough to fully understand what was going on. I'm 99% sure there was no surgery performed and she came sound to continue work as normal. As with yours she was never especially lame.
 

kinnygirl1

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Can't advise but have heard of other horses breaking splint bone and coming back to full work successfully. Hugs to you...it's **** when these things happen despite you taking first class care of them when others seem not to care much and nowt ever happens to their horses! (Not that I wish any harm on any horses, you understand)
 

nuttychestnut

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Happened to friends horse, off work for a few weeks then returned to his normal
Full workload, dressage, xc, sj and the rest. Don't worry he was slowly built back to his full workload :)
 

SO1

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My pony broke his splint bone just over two years ago and he was not operated on he just had the soft cast bandage and box rest he return to full work including jumping and vet said he would pass a 5 stage vetting and you would never know he has ever had a problem with that leg.

He was on box rest for 12 weeks though and it did take about 6 months to get him back into normal work and turnout.
 

Peanot

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There should be a 'like' button on here. Thanks ladies, and thank you for your kind words. Nodding discreetly at KG1.
@SO1. Did your horse have the broken bone removed? Was it nearer top or bottom of the splint bone? Or did it mend/join back on main bone? I've been told 4 weeks box rest originally but more x-rays will tell us more. Thank you.
 
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SO1

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My pony did not have the bone removed. It was near the top of the splint bone and the vet originally said 6-8 weeks box rest but it took a lot longer.

His situation was complicated slightly by a misdiagnosis when he first got kicked so he had two weeks where he was in the field and also being hacked out in walk with a tiny bit of trot on advice of the vet who thought that would reduce the swelling, as well as being on antibiotics, he was hardly lame at all and the cut was tiny. I got the vet back after two weeks as the cut was not healing and the swelling was not going down and he was still a bit lame and at that point they x-rayed and found the break.

He also jumped out of his stable the first morning of his box rest I don't know if that also made it worse {then moved him to a specialist rehab yard to do his box rest and rehab which made life a lot easier for him as he was not on box rest on his own and could have a full grid up}
 

ihatework

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I work on the theory with horses that they mostly all try to maim themselves at some point in their lives.
High up on my preferred list of things to deal with would be a broken splint bone.
I have never seen a horse not come back to full work from it, so hopefully your horse will be no different.
 

Goldenstar

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I had one , she had seven pieces of bone removed the 'head ' of the splint bones was still attached .
She had several weeks box rest then returned to full work .
 

Fun Times

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Wow OP, am really pleased and relieved for you to hear all these success stories, its helped put my mind at rest never mind yours!
 

Peanot

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Thanks again everyone. It's making me feel much better fun times, I have to agree. It's heart warming to hear all these positive stories. I've been to see him again this morning and he's being positively perky and his usual cheeky nuzzling self. Vet is going to re-assess today and take more x-rays to see what's happening but I'm hoping he can come home today, if not, tomorrow as I just want him home so I can spend more time with him, and he's with his friends. xx
 

mjcssjw2

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mine fractured her splint bone as well, it was not removed and was almost classed as a non union, but did eventually calcify, but it did take six months to join, I think removal of the broken bit would have been quicker to heal, she recovered completely with a very minor splint! whick reduced greatly over time. My friends horse ended up with a fractured splint bone - thanks to someone with a pellet gun, the fractured bit was removed - but that took a long time to heal as some of the pellet had been missed and it was working its way out, it was fine once that had occured and she was a show horse.
 

Peanot

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Whoop! He's home. Vet says 2 weeks box rest n then re-X-ray to see what is happening. I can walk him out for short grazes twice a day, which wasn't expected but I'm grateful. He's coming to change bandage on Friday n check on it. I'll keep you all up to date. Thanks again for your positive comments xx
 

Emms321

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Whoop! He's home. Vet says 2 weeks box rest n then re-X-ray to see what is happening. I can walk him out for short grazes twice a day, which wasn't expected but I'm grateful. He's coming to change bandage on Friday n check on it. I'll keep you all up to date. Thanks again for your positive comments xx
Pleased your horse is home now. My pony got kicked in August, a fractured splint bone was confirmed by x–Ray. No bone removed, put on Danilon and box rest. Area around the fracture was swollen but after 2 days his lameness was gone so I stopped the Danilon. He was not happy being stabled 24/7 so was put in a small area of turnout for short periods each day. After 1 week he was pogoing around so much I called the vet who advised putting him back out in the field. I was totally horrified when he galloped around for 5 minutes. He was able to get back into work 6 weeks after. The cut healed well and you would never know it had happened. Good luck with your boy.
 

milliepops

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Sure he will be fine in no time. Mine broke a hind splint bone last October after having a row with the electric fence and was fully signed off by vets and back in proper work by January. Her recovery period was a little longer than expected but as she is 17 vets just put it down to her age. She had multiple small fractures to the bone but it was stable so we left it alone and monitored by x ray every 4-6 weeks. Got a bit of a lump where the main fracture was but fortunately not to much excess calcification and no lasting consequences. :)
 

ILuvCowparsely

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My horse on Xmas day came in with a puncture wound on his right foreleg. I cleaned it in saline solution and bandaged it up. The wound wasn't very big but quite deep so I spoke to vet who advised it would be ok to leave til morning.
Long story short, he could feel the splint bone was fractured so off we went to the horse hospital where x-rays confirmed a straight break to the distal splint bone. It is the lower 3rd. Vet gave standing surgery, with sedation to remove about 5-6 tiny fragments of bone and tried to pull out the long snapped off piece but as it was attached so solid, he decided to leave it and pushed it back in line with the remaining splint bone. He was not lame on it at all and still isn't 2 days post op, but it is swollen obviously and bandaged up very big. They are saying that as it is attached so strong that it has a good chance of joining up with the main splint bone and shouldn't cause any more problems but I've been reading up and most of what I can find, have had the broken bits removed, but all with 100% success rate and a return to normal work. We will know more when they take more x-rays but I'm asking if anyone else had had this happen as I know it's very common. Did you have it removed or left in n did it join the main bone and heal?
This has been devastating for me as I am heartbroken as I'm one of those owners who try and wrap them up in cotton wool and do everything properly. Thank you in advance for your replies.


Don't worry my mare got kicked on her hind leg in 95 it had trickled blood all weekend so I called vet - result shattered splint bone 19 pieces ( still have the pieces ) surgery - box rest for a while then turned out got kicked 2 more times over that spot then more box rest till we moved here. Healed up fine though a little more filled in that leg under hock where injury was. It healed up and she carried on life after as before.

The only worry was infection getting into the hock as it was on the outside just under but as I said no problem. Confident this will heal up and you not notice later any difference.
 
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aussierider

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Just to give you another success story, one of mine broke his in May this year. The vets initially said to leave it and see if it would heal but only one of the broken bits reattached. He had surgery to remove it in July as he was still unsound. He had three weeks of after surgery, two in a stable then turned out and was being ridden fully sound. He still has some hard swelling in the area, it doesn't look exactly like the other leg but he is totally sound.

Hope your horses makes a full recovery :)
 

Welly

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Another success story, my mare fractured her splint bone prating about in the field 2 years ago this month. Xrays showed a clean brake she had 6 weeks box rest then back to work after 2 months she did it again in the field,6 more weeks box rest and back to work. She has been sound and in work ever since but I do bring her in when I see her messing about in the field.
 

Peanot

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Update: due to ice disappearing we can now walk out in hand for a graze for 10 mins twice a day. He was sedated this morning and I am really pleased to say that he was an angel. As soon as his feet touched the grass, his head went down n he just munched at the grass. He's now chilling back in his bedroom.
Thank you so much for all your positive replies, it's lovely to hear all the success stories.
Happy New Year and I hope we all have a trouble free, great 2015 full of horsey goodness xx
 

Princess Rosie

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Our big lad that we sold a couple of years ago fractured his splint bone last year in the field and it was removed completely, he is now back in full time work and he is back eventing, no issues whatsoever, if you need any further info please PM me and I will ask his new owner any questions you might have.
 

Peanot

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Update:
Hello all, the nice vet came out Friday, took off bandage, said everything is as he expected, wiped it out, and put another bandage on. I could then walk out twice a day for 10 mins walking and twice a day 10 mins grazing. First day, saturday, I did 5 mins walking n as he was so chilled let him graze for 10 mins after the walking. Today, I have walked twice for 10 mins followed by bit of grazing as he's so chilled grazing, its just same as moving around stable, and grazed twice for 10 mins. Vet is coming back on weds to check again and said if sound in trot up, the only thing stopping from turning him out is the wet weather as bandage would get wet n muddy! But I can turn out into our small indoor enclosure for an hour or so. I expected him to be in for a while longer tbh. He said its the waiting time for the wound to heal. I didn't tell him that I'm giving him lots of herbs n supplements to help with tissue/bone/injury etc and I'm hoping they will help loads.
I've been reading about other splint bone fractures n been reading that they've had weeks/months box rest! I'm sure the vet knows what he's on about! I will keep you all updated :) x
 
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