I am finally on the uphill side of the LH extensor tendon fraying from (we think) turnout boot tension complicated with a nasty blister. What started out rather benign ended up being a pit down to the tendon with black necrotic subcutaneous tissue and frayed off tendon ends getting spit out of the wound. So not as serious of course as a severed tendon, but we didn’t understand what was going on for about a two months. She was totally sound, stayed in work, and we thought it was just a really nasty blister. Not until it turned black (practically overnight) and she came back sore from a horse show did we start to investigate deeper. Did twice daily bandages changes with Derma-Gel, telfa pad, super-absorbant pad, roll guaze, no-bows, and standing wrap. It kept the wound clean but the pit got deeper and more tendon was visible as it was spitting out chunks of tendon. So we tried something different: amnion. The amnion acts as a skin graft and lets the wound do what it needs to do in order to start healing. She spent probably two months on SMZs, until the wound was completely covered over by subcutaneous tissue. Then she oculd come off the SMZs but we are continuing to but amnion across the wound. In two months of use the wound has gone from a two inch diameter flesh wound with about a half inch by one inch pit down to tendon to a quarter sized later of healthy tissue that is gradually growing skin across. Her wound has had a ten times better response with the amnion treatment than it did with the bandaging routine. Best of all, if you can find some amnion, it’s free!
SwampSkeeter, I know every wound is different but don’t be surprised or dismayed if the stitches don’t hold. Depending on the shape/type of wound it might not be that critical. Our vet “stitched” my friend’s filly with great big four-inch-long stitches just to keep the whole mess somewhat together. They didn’t hold. It didn’t really matter in the long run.
My TB mare got a wire cut last summer that is RIGHT on the front of the hock joint – no joint, tendon or bone involvement or exposure, just a big piece of skin and muscle ripped. I am STILL trying to get that healed. It is down to a cut the size of a quarter as opposed to one the size of a grapefruit but still… a cut. Front of cannon bone is so much “better”.
Since my friend’s filly’s accident, 90% of the wire fence on this property has been replaced. My TB ran headlong into that 10%. Sigh. :no:
Yep. The lower leg is such a high-tension area that unless the leg is kept REALLY still (like casted) it’s very hard to get stitches to stay. In this particular injury, Rio’s stitches started coming apart in about 4 days. He also sliced his LH cannon area open as a weaner, and those stitches came apart as well.
Stitches
I understand they might not hold.
But she said even if one holds it will help the healing. So today is day 6. I change wraps tonight. Will see how it looks.
The thing I will dread will be dealing with proud flesh when that time comes.
JoZ, That is why I don’t have “wire” Just A freak thing she had to get tangled in the darn post! I “thought” we were being pretty safe. But I know as well as anyone “shit happens”.
JB I could not find your thread.
I had the best luck with Panalog on the wound when the PF started developing.
swamp, my thread might be gone by now I know my original one is long-gone, but I was hoping my several subsequent long posts on it, in response to others who were going through it, might be around
I have a 6yo large pony who did that. It was horrible. He’s now 100% sound for anything. He’s got nasty scars but that’s all.
My MIL’s gelding severed his as a 3 year old. After the initial stall rest and intense wrapping he was turned out for about a year and then broken with no noticeable lameness. He is 9 now and aside from a white scar and very slight lump on the front of his hind cannon, you can’t tell that he ever did it. His did not require surgery, just intense wrapping. The vet clinic made up a splint to help stabilize the lower leg as it healed.
She witnessed him do it and it was a very disconcerting thing to see- on the short walk into the barn to wait for the vet he would flop over onto the front of his fetlock when he walked. :dead:
still looks good
Okay guys right now I am feeling lucky. Day 6 and stitches are still holding. It really looks good, better than I thought it would at this point:)
I do have pics, but am not sure about posting them.
Okay DH is home and yapping at me must go.
Day 8
Some sutures are starting to blow. But still looks decent.
LOL, not surprised, but keep on pluggin’!
the downside to those sutures popping so soon is you deal with a fresh-ish wound again. Don’t freak out if it starts to look worse again.
Hang in there! She will probably be in the stall for quite a while. I forget how long mine was in a stall for, but I think almost 2 months. He did knuckle over and there wasn’t much to do about it. Just hope that the tendon will eventually adhere to the bone.
One should do whatever it takes to avoid knuckling over. It’s more than just about keeping things (more) still to allow reattachment. It’s about not having the fetlock joint capsule tear, which happened to my guy.
JB, So the knuckling over caused the joint capsule to tear?
Did it happen right away?
I figured it would get worse before it got better. Some of the stitches are still holding well so every little bit helps. The ones that are holding are on the not as deep cut above the deep cut. If that makes any sense.
As for knuckling over, she is really pretty stable on it (after the initial getting into barn when it first happened. But she did not freak out just had to walk her carefully). Did knuckle over once last week when I moved her to a different stall. Just caught that toe on the edge of the stall mat when going through the stall door. She is just a 4 yr old, but luckily she is pretty darn quiet. I can tell she would LIKE to go play though:sadsmile:
I keep someone in the barn with her all the time to try to keep her happy.
Any time a joint hyperflexes, particularly if done while weighted, there’s a great risk of tearing the joint capsule.
It’s unknown whether the tearing occured at the time of the accident (or while waiting for the vet to come, I wasn’t there until after the vet got there), or during some early antics on his part. There was enough overall leg swelling, combined with constant wrapping, that it wasn’t discovered until later.
My boy was a just-turned 5yo and he too was pretty darn quiet, so you’re in luck
FWIW, I started letting him out into an enclosed, attached run, maybe 30x60, while I cleaned his stall twice a day, within about 3 weeks. I think at week 2 or so I started taking him out to hand graze for 30 minutes or so. I do think the fact that he knew he’d get SOME out time, early on, helped. Within 2 months I was letting him have free access to that attached run all day, locked in his stall at night. At 3 months he also had free access to a ring-sized paddock during the day, and then run/stall at night. At 4 months he had it all, by himself, 24x7.
Thank you for your very helpful/hopeful posts!
[QUOTE=jennywho;4679700]
Count me in as another successful extensor tear recovery. Our mare cut all the way through her extensor and 25% of her cannon on a three foot piece of smooth wire. I will echo the bandage changing, it was neverending and expensive - diapers work great. We did not cast the leg, instead welded a door hinge to her shoe and then took a piece of iron (thinner than rebar) and made a brace that attached to the door hinge. We could still change the bandage and give her support. The biggest problem was proud flesh, but she was 100% sound at the end of the very long ordeal.[/QUOTE]
Jenny I am hoping that it is possible to get a photograph of the special shoe you had made for your horse. We can make anything, I have a fantastic mare that needs one. Thank you so very much. K
[QUOTE=Swampskeeter;4678252]
Does anyone have any experience with severed extesor that runs down the front of cannon bone on hind leg?
If so did your horse become sound to ride?[/QUOTE]
My horse did a front leg.
The vet said it’s the one injury that will regenerate itself and all will be good to go. He also said he more often sees them on the hind and in GP jumpers. They return to work. : )
Took me about 2 or some months to fix my guy up. My horse wore a PVC pipe type of cast on the back of his front leg. I unwrapped and rewrapped every three days.
the cast was made with a bulb at the bottom to keep his foot forward.
He turned out A-OK. : )
The tendon settled a bit at the front of his pastern and made a stupid little nose kinda bump. The new growth was a bit tighter so he couldn’t quite tuck up that foot o/f as tight as the other. The tendon regrew to be about the size of my thumb…instead of the original tendon which was about pinky finger size.
I know this is a very old posting… But our 9 month old filly just did something very similar… Cut to the bone… Severed Extensor Tendons on the rear cannon bone… We are only 2 days into this… Doc comes back out tomorrow to unwrap / check things out … But she was so bad that her fetlock kept buckling unless we used a lead rope to help her move it forward. She is wrapped and splinted up to the hock at this time…I guess my questions are …
-
What tips/tricks did you all have for healing / wrapping?
-
How long did it take for them to become healthy enough to be let out again? It worries me as she is only 9 months old, and I am concerned that not getting exercise / turnout will mess with her terribly… She’s an energetic baby with a high play drive…
Any assistance or advice is gratefully accepted… Also… Vet said not career ending, but she was purchased to be a barrel racer… Do you think she’ll be that sound eventually? Obviously, she has tons of time before she’s even old enough to start… But I just want to do the best as I can for her.
Long wraps and wrap them way down the hoof. You can get things nice and appropriately snug and really limit the motion of the fetlock.
Personally, once the acute phase of the injury is over with, start working on free choice movement in increasingly large areas. That helps the growing scar tissue align in a stronger manner. It also helps their mental state to get back to some level of movement as soon as you can.
I was starting mine back to work 4 months later. Just walking, mind you, and he’d worked up to full time turnout in a private paddock about 100x200 and had been there for 2 months or so.
Over 75% of horses do this return to/start a full athletic career. You have the bonus of a very young horse
The vet came out last night and redressed and splinted… He said her bone looked better than he thought it would More blood flow than he expected… Problem that we are going to have getting into this?.. Like I said. 9month baby who has to be sedated before we can clean the wound… Doc gave us permission to hand walk her a little every day as she is bearing weight with no problem while it is splinted (and when its not as long as it is forward)
How the heck do you suggest letting a 9 month old baby with a major leg injury blow off baby steam? she’s ready to explode already and we are only a few days into this…Doc is coming out again on Monday to coach us through the redressing, and gave us an oral sedative to give her before hand… I’m scared we are going to hurt her more… I have so many fears with this injury… She’s not the best at handling her rear feet anyways, and it was a major fight or flight last night just getting the sedative administered…
This baby girl is a spaz normally, she’ll spend hours playing with her giant ball normally, and now she’s stuck in a 10 by 10 stall with a jolly ball… How can we keep her happy? How can we doctor her without her killing us or us hurting her more? Ugh!!! Frustration!!! How the heck are we going to do this for months?
I had a weanling sever her extenor tendon on her hindleg. She had only had minimal handling but was so good through all the wrapping, I just gave her some grain while I wrapped and she never moved. She did require 10 weeks of stall rest and there were a few times she went wild to let off steam in there and I held my breath. But for the most part she was pretty good. She was in extra long due to severing right into the fetlock joint, it took the full 10 weeks for the wound to even close up. So LOTS of bandage changes etc. She came fully sound on it until this Fall when she damaged her collateral ligament…sigh…can we say accident prone?! At least she is a good and experienced patient, lol