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Discussion on Broken splint bone post-surgical care
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Member:
Swainl
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Posted on Monday, Jan 15, 2007 - 4:26 pm:
How long should I expect to feel heat in the area of a broken splint bone after surgery? The surgery was to remove the bottom 1/3 of the bone on the outside of the rt. hind leg. Also, what protocol should I be using to get the horse back to work? I'm getting different info from different vets...One says that there's no reason to not start riding her again since we aren't dealing with a weight bearing or bone healing issue. The other wants to treat it like a broken bone with 45-60 days of stall rest followed by 2-3 weeks of hand walking before resuming turn-out for another month before riding.
This is a 10 y.o quarter horse mare that is ridden very lightly a couple of times a week.}
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Member:
Gwen
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 6:16 am:
When my horse broke his splint bone, he did not have surgery so my information may me inappropriate for you. However, I will share anyway! We followed the latter protocol so as not to aggravate the area. We were trying to get the broken piece to fuse back though, so again that is different. Just thought I would share! Just curious, how invasive was the surgery?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 8:09 am:
Both conditions described by the 2 vets are possible redbarnrat so it will depend on the status of the remaining splint bone. Has the connection to the cannon been damaged? If the answer to this question is uncertain, it might be safest to assume the fracture also created a weakness between it and the cannon that will require up to 2 months to resolve.
DrO
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Member:
Swainl
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 8:18 am:
I, too, followed the latter protocol when mine did not require surgery. But since the splint bone is not weight bearing, and it's now not even there, I'm not sure it makes sense to treat it the same way.
The surgery was pretty cool. It required gen'l anesthesia, then she cut from the break to the bottom of the splint bone. It's held in place with all kinds of connective tissue----it was kind of like getting the wishbone out of a chicken! After the bone was removed, she made sure there weren't any bone fragments at the site of the break, and she smoothed off the jagged end of the remaining bone. Then came 3 layers of stitches and bandaging.
She utilized digital x-rays during surgery to insure all was cleaned up properly.
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Member:
Swainl
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 8:21 am:
Dr. O--can that weakness you refer to be determined by ultrasound?
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jan 16, 2007 - 6:26 pm:
No the only way you might get a picture would be with a nuclear scan, costly and I don't know how practical.
DrO
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