Thanks for your replies! Great answers! Yes, joint movement during healing is certainly a problem here, there is lots of tension on the skin in the area. Haemorrhage less so, the owners had done good work in applying a large bandage immediately after the wound occurred, and keeping the horse calm. The pictures attached highlight other concerns. Although the main hock joints are a little further away, under the skin here is a fluid filled sac (subcutaneous bursa –yellow line –this can be distended with no lameness in the case of a capped hock (marked by black arrow in photo)), then the superficial digital flexor tendon runs over the point of the hock, under this tendon is another fluid filled sac called the calcaneal bursa (red line, distended sac marked by white arrow in photo) and then you have the gastrocnemius tendon and calcaneus bone. With an injury like this any or all of the above can be involved. As with septic joints, septic/infected bursae can be life threatening and require surgical intervention. This horse was referred immediately, subsequently had two surgeries to flush the bursae (there was also some damage to the superficial tendon) and has spent a long period of time in a large full limb bandage. He is still on the road to recovery. Many thanks to Velvet’s owner and his dedicated loan home for letting us share this case. There are lots of fluid filled structures located near the hock. Please call us quickly if you have a wound in this area!
Posted on: Thu, 06 Nov 2014 16:44:45 +0000
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