Fractured Splint without Surgery Experience?

[ambitiousAmmy]

I have a 5y/o OTTB that fractured a splint out of the blue a few months ago. No signs of lameness or discomfort- just a big bump on his left hind! X-rays showed a fracture but when I consulted with a surgeon he said that the fracture was already healing and recommended not performing the surgery and giving him a month off before returning to light work. I gave him a little more than a month off and when he returned to work he was sound so I sent him off to be sold. I am getting updates that he was lame on his left hind but is getting better- now he is only lame when flexed.

Has anyone had experience with a fracture healing and the horse being a little tender when returning to full work? I am currently living in another state so I am limited with what I am able to do but don’t want to hurt him if this is an issue related to the fracture!

[irish_horse]

Yes. Horse had a pretty good sized split front left. Popped up out of nowhere after a day in pasture, though we had been endurance conditioning. Gave him 4 weeks off though he had no lameness, everything seemed pretty standard. Brought back into work and up to 15 mile conditioning rides was good. Then was pulled at the 25-mile point of a 50-mile ride, off on left leg (this was about about 8 weeks after splint. Pre-ride vets had been on notice and did not see any issues).

Was it the splint? I think so, though it wasn’t sore and lameness went away that week, so I did not do any more diagnostics. I just brought him back to something hard too quickly, my own bad judgment there! It’s been a few years, horse is totally sound, can’t even tell there was a splint!

My horse was never lame except at that ride. It was more that the splint was irritating the soft tissues around it and I worked him too hard. I then just took it easy for a few months, but it is hard to know if something else isn’t going on. Maybe re-x-ray to see if the splint is healing? He could be aggravating the soft tissues, it could not be healing, or it could be something else. I’d say more time off or more diagnostics, whichever works best for your circumstances/pocketbook!. Good luck with your guy.

[IPEsq]

Yes, mine had a nondisplaced hairline fracture of a lateral splint last summer, slightly more proximal location. Vet recommended 3x shockwave. We didn’t even rest it much since it was the lateral one and he wasn’t off but only tender to palpate. Just kept it covered with some protection for a while when working. We wound up doing shockwave only 2x based on how good it was looking. Vet said it would take many months before the xray was clean and didn’t recommend redoing any xrays unless a problem arose, and now you can’t tell where it was at all. This one was a front leg.

Since your horse developed a lameness, a workup on that leg seems appropriate. How much work was he in before being sent off to be sold?

[x-halt-salute]

Mine has had multiple hind leg splint fractures, unfortunately.

The second one I was aware of caused minor (0.5/5) lameness right away, then over the next week or so slightly worse lameness (1-1.5/5). Degree of lameness waxed and waned for a several months before it finally healed all the way, as did degree of swelling.

We did monitor with x-ray and ultrasound along the way to make sure there was no interference with the suspensory. I was glad we did that, as knowing that the lameness was probably still just from the fracture (vs. soft tissue irritation) helped me decide not to do surgery, even with the long healing time. Toward the end the lameness was very mild and inconsistent and was only discernable when warming up for a ride.

I’d be tempted to get follow-up imaging in your shoes, just to make sure it’s healing nicely. Good luck!

[splitrockfarmnc]

My mare got kicked by another horse and it fractured her RH splint. She was sound for 2 weeks, before the lameness developed and got progressively worse. X-rays confirmed, we did 4mo stall rest with last 2 including hand grazing/walking before going back to work. Hasn’t been an issue since.

[NancyM]

Could be the broken splint bone, could be something else that hasn’t been diagnosed yet. Not all broken splint bones need to be operated on, especially if the break is high. Low breaks are the ones that need to have the fragment removed, because the lower end of the splint bone is often floating and unsupported. Because the splint bone naturally fuses to the cannon bone, especially up high, this will stabilize a high break. If, after adequate time to heal, there is still soreness in the area and/or lameness and healing is not complete, freeze firing the problem is helpful to drive healing to completion. A callous of bone build up can occur over the break, but not adequately into the break to fully heal it, and lameness and soreness can continue, sometimes insidious. The freeze firing re inflames the area, brings blood and healing to the area that has not fully healed naturally. Freeze firing is non invasive, done with a blunt probe which is cooled in liquid nitrogen. It will leave a few white hairs on the spots where the probe touched the skin.

[ambitiousAmmy]

Thank you all for your replies! I just spoke with the trainer he is with and it sounds like he is looking better. Current plan is to keep letting him work- just to go easy for now and closely monitor that leg.

Im really happy to hear I’m not the only one who opted not to get the surgery and that you all had good outcomes!! Thank you again😊

[MsM]

Many years ago my horse came in from turnout with a small wound and slight limp in a hind leg. Radiographs showed a broken splint. It was displaced and there was concern about infection and sequestration. Surgery was not a realistic option for me.
Fortunately he healed without complications.