Abstract
Twenty horses with central and third tarsal bone slab fractures, were treated by internal fixation. Eighteen of the 20 cases were Standardbred trotters, one was a Thoroughbred racehorse and one a Swedish Warmblood. The central tarsal bone (CT) was involved in 12 cases and the third tarsal bone (T3) in 8 cases. The fractures were treated by lag screw fixation with one (18 cases) or two (2 cases) 3.5 or 4.5 mm cortical screws. Horses were confined to stall rest for one month and then put on a gradually increasing exercise programme. Convalescence time was 3–8 months until the fracture had healed and training could be resumed. Fifteen of the horses regained athletic soundness. Thirteen of the horses (72%) raced after surgery (12 Standardbreds and 1 Thoroughbred). Nine (69%) of these 13 horses won races after surgery.
Keywords: lameness, hind limb, surgery, fractures
Sammanfattning
Denna studie är en uppföljning av 20 fall av frakturer på tredje och centrala tarsalbenet vilka behandlats med intern fixering. Av de 20 fallen var 18 varmblodstravare, en var fullblodshäst och en var svenskt halvblod. Det centrala tarsalbenet var involverat i 12 fall och det tredje tarsalbenet i 8 fall. Frakturerna behandlades med intern fixering medelst en eller två 3.5 eller 4.5 mm kortikala skruvar. Hästarna boxvilades strikt i en månad, varefter de sattes på ett gradvis ökande motionsprogram. Konvalescenstiden tills frakturen läkt och träningen kunde återupptas var 3 till 8 månader. Femton av hästarna återfick sin prestationsförmåga. Tretton av hästarna (72%) deltog i löpningar efter operationen och nio (69%) av dessa vann.
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