CURRENT BEST PRACTICE FOR THE TREATMENT OF SPLINT BONE FRACTURES: SURGICAL VS CONSERVATIVE

摘要

At the ECVS meeting in 2012 Tessier presented a case of a horse which underwent surgery to amputate the distal aspect of the fourth metatarsal bone. The horse sustained a fatal fracture of the third metatarsal bone during recovery from anaesthesia. This complication has also been reported previously1, so I asked the audience, who had seen fracture of the cannon bone following surgery to remove a splint bone? A clear majority raised their hand, including myself. The unanswered question appeared to be, if a fatal cannon bone fracture is a possible complication, is surgery necessary?