Trauma to the coronary band including trauma are fairly common in the horse. The coronary band or coronet is the part of the foot just above the wall and is a modified skin structure that forms the horn of the wall of the foot. It has a very complicated architecture and injury to the coronet may impair it's function...more. Prompt and proper treatment of injury is important to insure it heals well and continues to form functional hoof wall.

Less common are inflammatory diseases of the coronet. Inflammation of the coronet causes a very distinctive appearance that includes swelling, scaling, and the hair standing out from the coronet ...more.

This article deals with the diagnosis and treatment of trauma to the coronary band.

The location of the coronary makes it susceptible to trauma from rocks, plant stubble, fencing, and even the other feet, particularly if shod. But other diseases can cause lameness and purulent draining wounds of the coronet. Gravels occur when a solar abscess is not drained at the sole and migrates up the wall and pops out at the coronet. Quittor is also a possibility though uncommon. Quittor is a chronic infection of the colateral cartilages of the hoof that eventually pops out at the coronet.

When a fresh wound on the coronet is found an embedded stick should always be considered and not always easily visible. During the swing phase of motion the foot is flexed and the coronary band is exposed to trauma. If there is stubble or low woody plants they can be driven deep through the coronet and deep under the hoof wall where it breaks off, leaving only a wound visible on the coronet that may almost close and be covered by the longer hair of the coronet. At first this may cause mild to moderate lameness and a difficult wound to find if you do not palpate the coronet. However as infection sets in over the next day or two the lameness will become severe.

Diagnostically penetrating trauma may have a different history than a gravel or quittor. With gravel or quittor a horse is often lame for a week or more before the draining wound appears. Notice the word may have a different history. It must be noted that because of sometimes heavy hair growth around the coronet and minimal bleeding the initial wound may be missed for days before discovered giving the appearance of having just appeared days after lameness was first noted. Whenever a purulent draining wound is discovered at the coronet in a horse that has been lame for days or weeks a thorough exam should be undertaken to differentiate:

• Wounds
• Wound with embedded foreign body
• Gravel ...more
• Quittor ...more

This exam should include a thorough exam of the sole including the use of hoof testers and a thorough probing of the wound deep with a pair of forceps looking for evidence of a foreign body. If not to deep often pieces of wood can be caught in the forceps. Diseases of the coronet are often very painful so sedation and local blocking may be necessary for a thorough probing. If the draining tract continues distally just under the wall further than can be probed removing overlying wall will greatly aid early diagnosis and treatment.

When questions remain on the diagnosis or a coronary wound does not respond as expected reexamination undertaken and radiographs and possibly ultrasound considered to further define the injury.