Nothing is more frightening that seeing a laceration or exposed bone on the leg of a horse. After the initial shock of seeing such a wound, most horse owners call their vet, which is the best solution to injuries that can have long lasting effects on horse health.
Leg wound care for horses
Exposed bone in a horse's leg does not have its normal covering of periosteum, and because the bone dries out, it is susceptible to sequestrum formation.
Horses commonly suffer lacerations that may be very deep and, especially on the lower legs, may expose a large area of bone. All horses with lacerations involving exposed bone should be seen by a vet as soon as possible. Exposed bone does not have its normal covering of periosteum, and because the bone dries out, it is susceptible to sequestrum formation.
According to veterinary literature. a sequestrum is a piece of bone that dies and causes delayed healing of the wound. For this reason, all lower leg wounds with bone exposed should be wrapped with a pressure bandage to limit expansion of the wound and keep the wound moist.
For these wounds to heal, granulation tissue must cover the bone. It has been shown that holes drilled in the surface of the bone can increase the rate of granulation tissue and decrease healing time.
Initially, these wound should be cleaned with sterile saline with a small amount of dilute chlorhexidine solution added. Although the yellow Furacin ointment does stimulate granulation tissue, it has been shown to delay wound contraction and slow overall healing, so Furacin is not a good choice in these wounds.
Silver sulfadiazine ointment is often used in these wounds. Once the wound is covered with granulation tissue, it is resistant to infection and bandaging can be stopped if the horse is in a clean environment. In large wounds, skin grafts can be used to speed up healing.
Although several different types of grafts can be used, the easiest is called a pinch graft. With this technique, small pieces of skin usually from the horse’s chest are pulled up, snipped off with scissors, and implanted in the granulation bed on the horse’s lower leg wound where they will grow and cover the wound.
Pinch grafts should be done by an experienced veterinarian and follow-up care is necessary to prevent infection and make sure the horse's leg heals properly.
Read more about treatment of Leg Wounds