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  Discussion on Swollen cheekbone
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New Member:
20452045

Posted on Tuesday, Oct 1, 2002 - 9:10 pm:

My 6 year old gelding was kicked in the cheek last week. Fortunately, the eye was missed. The vet does not think that the cheekbone is broken, but that it is bruised and possibly has an infection of the bone. Where the skin was broken, it festered and oozed for 3 days. That has stopped. The cheekbone is still swollen. We have had him on bute 2 x/day and also on sulfa for the initial infection. We have started applying a light application of DMSO to the area now that the cut is healing in the hopes that this may reduce the swelling.

My vet says that the swelling may never recede. Is there anything else we should be doing? Is it true that the swelling may always be there?

Thank you for your help, Dr. O

Susan

Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 2, 2002 - 4:47 am:

Yes I would want a radiograph to be sure the bone is not broken and to see if there is evidence of osteomyelitis at this point. It may indicate a need to return to antibiotics or further treatment plans.
DrO
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Wednesday, Oct 2, 2002 - 10:43 am:

Susan,
We had a similar accident with our gelding (Yogi). We had the vet out immediately. He cleaned the wound and stitched it up. We asked about possible bone fracture and he said don't worry about that. To make a long story short, he ended up at the vet hospital and had bone fragments and dead bone removed and scraped. I agree with DrO, get radiographs and then at least you will know for sure and possibly save you and your horse from going through something worse later on. Yogi has a slight indent and slight bump at the injury sight, but healed quickly after the surgery.
Kathleen
Member:
20452045

Posted on Thursday, Oct 10, 2002 - 10:21 pm:

Dr. O and Kathleen, Thank you for your advice. I took your suggestions. Today, I was able to trailer my horse an hour to the specialist. He x-rayed and my horse does have a bone chip. He is going to remove it tomorrow and I am hopeful for a positive result. Susan
Member:
20452045

Posted on Thursday, Oct 17, 2002 - 4:19 pm:

Dr. O. and Kathleen, The vet performed the surgery. We have had a rough go of it but he is doing better. There were multiple bone chips, one of which was lying across the facial nerve. There was some paralysis probably due to the bone chip lying on the nerve but it appears to have resolved. The swelling is starting to recede and I am hopeful that the paralysis is permanently gone with the decrease in swelling. We unfortunately had a reaction to the penicillin but were able to stop the shock before he injured himself further. I started hand walking and have now lightly hacked him twice. Thank you for your advice as it backed up my gut feeling that something further was wrong. The vet said that his prognosis was not good with the bone chip on the nerve. Let's keep our fingers crossed that he is on the mend!
Member:
Kathleen

Posted on Thursday, Oct 17, 2002 - 7:52 pm:

Susan,
I am so glad you had it taken care of. Please let us know how it goes.
Kathleen
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