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| Discussion on Healing deep elbow laceration - Help! | |
| Author | Message |
| Member: remmi |
Posted on Sunday, Mar 23, 2014 - 8:43 am: My question: What is the best way to treat a 4 inch deep elbow laceration that splits apart when the horse lays down? How long do you have to prevent laying down in order for the tissue to be strong enough to hold up to the enormous pressure exerted on that area when a horse lays down. Are there any other options besides tying your horse? I want to minimize the scar tissue so this does not become a long term problem when he lays down.Background: My horse suffered a 4 inch deep laceration at the elbow that goes straight upward into the muscle. After getting both internal and external stitches, he spent 10 days at the equine hospital tied to a short rope to prevent him from laying down and splitting open the stitches. We let him lay down on day 11 and all went well. After two more nights of letting him lay down, I brought him home from the equine hospital and continued his stall rest at home. On day 14 we removed the stitches, and that night the wound opened back up when he laid down. The wound now looks to only be about 3/4 inch deep, but the tissue is weak and the more he walks around his stall the deeper it gets. I immediately took him back to the equine hospital and they put in a couple of stitches just to prevent stress on the tissue puling apart, but are treating it more like an open wound. He is back on the rope having to be tied with no hand walking to reduce movement to a bare minimum. I am trying to understand the end game here - how long does it take to get the tissue strong enough? I was told it takes 50 days for tissue to be as strong as it originally was. It seems like this is the worst possible location for an injury for a horse that loves to lay down at night. I feel so terrible for this horse. 
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| Member: rtrotter |
Posted on Sunday, Mar 23, 2014 - 9:29 am: Unfortunately, sometimes there is no option and an ounce of prevention is a pound of cure. If the answer to a complete recovery is tying up the horse, then that what you need to do. It sounds like it won't be much longer, but better to be safe than sorry. Horses get used to situations, we had one that fractured her hip and was on a wire in her stall for 4 months so she wouldn't lay down, her hip healed and although she could have gone back into training she was so well bred they decided to make her a broodmare. I do not think your horses situation was as dire as this mare's was and it may only be a few weeks before he can get back to his favorite pastime of laying down and snoozing
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| Member: remmi |
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| Moderator: DrO |
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