How to Construct and Apply the Wooden Shoe for Treating Three Manifestations of Chronic Laminitis

摘要

The treatment of chronic laminitis presents a challenge to veterinarians, farriers, and horse owners. Our ability to rehabilitate horses with laminitis, regardless of the method of treatment, is related to the severity of damage to the lamellae. Chronic laminitis is defined by the presence of mechanical collapse of the lamellae and displacement of the distal phalanx within the hoof capsule. Two forms of displacement of the distal phalanx are widely recognized: dorsal capsular rotation (the most common form of displacement) and distal displacement. Recently, two of the authors (AHP and SEO) have become more aware of the rotation that occurs in a medial or lateral direction where the distal phalanx displaces distally on one side. If dorsal capsular rotation is severe, the instability of the distal phalanx combined with the weight of the horse often leads to prolapse of the sole or prolapse of the distal phalanx through the sole. Recently, the wooden shoe has emerged as the most consistently successful method to address these three entities of chronic laminitis and are used extensively by two of the authors (SEO and MLS).2 The wooden shoe allows the distal phalanx to be realigned. It has all the mechanical advantages of the other shoes previously advocated for the treatment of laminitis, because it addresses the forces exerted on the compromised lamellae. Additionally, it is able to concentrate weight bearing evenly over a specified section of the foot because of its flat, solid construction. The major advantages of the wooden shoe are that it is easy to construct, it is applied in a non-traumatic manner, and it can easily be altered according to the radiographic appearance and structural requirements of each individual foot/horse.