Page 398 - The Veterinary Care of the Horse

place.

One of the problems associated with carpal fractures is damage to the articular cartilage.
VetBooks.ir At the moment this can only be accurately assessed by arthroscopy. It is hoped that in the

future, examination of the blood or joint fluid for specific substances released when cartilage
is injured, will help to determine the presence and degree of damage. Treatments that help to

limit this damage include:
• non-steroidal anti-inflammatory dugs, e.g. phenylbutazone, to reduce the pain and

inflammation
• intra-articular injections of hyaluronan or polysulphated glycosaminoglycan (PSGAG)

• intramuscular injections of PSGAG or pentosan polysulphate.

More recent techniques include:
• cartilage resurfacing using cartilage taken from another site

• transplantation of cartilage cells or stem cells from the horse that have been grown in the

laboratory; these are then injected back into the diseased joint and help it to repair.
• IRAP ®

• Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)

PROGNOSIS

The prognosis is reasonable if the horse is promptly and appropriately treated. Many horses
are able to continue racing. Multiple fractures carry a poorer prognosis.

Broken knees

‘Broken knees’ is the name used to describe an injury where the horse loses the skin from the
front of its knees, usually as a result of a fall. It occurs when a horse slips on a hard surface

such as a road.

CLINICAL SIGNS

The injury may just involve the superficial layers of skin or the whole skin thickness may be

lost (Figure 8.22). Because the knees tend to scrape along the road surface they are usually
badly grazed and often have dirt ground into the tissue. There is a moderate amount of

bleeding. The tendon sheaths that run across the knee may be opened and on occasions the
joint capsule may be damaged, allowing synovial fluid to escape and joint contamination to
occur.