TDK conference 2018

Type III (mid-sagittal) fractures of the distal phalanx are relatively rare in horses, because of that there are very few publications can be found in this field. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy and postoperative complications of cortical screw placement on standing, sedated horses.

During the study nine horses with no sign of lameness were investigated. Cortical screw was placed on both front distal phalanges (n=18) keeping 7 days between the surgeries. Before inserting the cortical screw, the position of drilling on the surface of the hoof capsule was marked according to place of the coffin bone and the solar canals using radiography. Under sedation and perineural analgesia the hoof capsules were drilled under radiographic control, then cortical screws with 4.5 mm size were placed in lag fashion.

After the surgery the horses were treated with antibiotics for 5 days while the hoof wounds examined every 48 hours with bandage replacement. The 28 days postsurgical follow-up included lameness evaluation on both legs and composite pain scoring. Horses at the end of the study the horses were euthanized, necropsy and computer tomography (CT) was used to visualize the hooves. It was also investigated if solar canal penetration increases complication rates, lameness and pain score.

The procedure time was 13.9+-4.8 minutes (mean value). In the first 3 days of the postoperative period the pain score values were significantly increased, after this first period of time the scores decreased (p<0.05). During the whole study, we found only one horse with hoof abscess and another one that had an infection around the implant. In 55.5% of the cases we found a penetration in the canalis solaris as imaged by CT.

We found that this procedure might be effective to treat this type of hoof fracture, but more experimental data is needed with this technique to get more information about the about the reliability of the technique.