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More On Puncture Wounds
Brock has worked on numerous puncture wounds, although only about 10% of them came to him with the object still in the foot. He says those cases were all people who had previously experienced a similar problem and knew the dangers of pulling an object without knowing enough about what was going on inside the foot.
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The horse showed much improvement once the nail was pulled and this hospital plate was bolted on, although it did take several steps for it to realize it could travel again. Unfortunately, more trouble was yet to come from this puncture wound. |
Many puncture wounds, he explains, are not too severe. If the nail only punctures the digital cushion, it may introduce anaerobic or facultative anaerobic bacteria and cause an abscess.
“Those will look terrible and the horse can get really lame, but they’re not career threatening,” Brock says.
That type of puncture can be treated with topical treatment and systemic antibiotics and will usually heal fine because there are no affected moving structures. But if the nail penetrates deeper and punctures any of the vital structures such as the coffin or navicular bone, flexor tendon or navicular bursa, the problems becomes much more severe.
“Then you’ve just got an amazingly horrible problem,” says Brock. “That’s a really unforgiving, high motion area.”
Without X-rays though, it is difficult to know if the pain is coming from a buildup of bacteria and infection in the digital cushion or if it’s in something more vital and mandatory for motion. Brock says a towel or some other cushion should be taped on the bottom of the foot and the horse immediately taken to a veterinarian.
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