Case History - CHLOE

Chloe, a sixteen year old pony mare is pictured here with her four week old colt foal.

This image represents a happy ending to major orthopaedic disaster which took place last December. Chloe who was eight months pregnant at the time, was spooked by a local hunt appearing in her field unexpectedly and took flight. She ended up upside down in a ditch with her leg caught in wire. Luckily a hunt follower had some wire cutters and was able to cut the mare free but not before she had nearly severed one of her hind feet.

Chloe was immediately brought into the clinic for assessment and emergency treatment. The wound was heavily contaminated with mud and extended round the lateral pastern and into the heel region. We were pretty sure that the coffin joint and navicular region were exposed. Contamination and infection of these delicate synovial structures carries a poor prognosis.

We were concerned also that the foal might have been damaged due to the somersault trauma that the mare had sustained. The decision was made to take the mare to surgery immediately despite the poor prognosis.

Under general anaesthesia the wound was carefully cleaned and explored. We inserted the arthroscope into the coffin joint on the other side of the limb and were able to demonstrate that the wound did in fact connect to this region. Several litres of sterile saline were flushed through the joint and out via the wound to decontaminate the area. The navicular region was similarly decontaminated. Antibiotic impregnated sponges were then placed in the joint to provide additional defence against infection.

Chloe recovered from her anaesthetic well and was remarkably comfortable when she stood. We managed the injury as an open wound but kept it covered with sterile dressings. The mare was put on a very strong antibiotic regime and everyone kept their fingers crossed!

We were monitoring the foal and happily he was showing normal activity within the uterus and there were no signs of abortion.

Chloe stayed with us for a few weeks after the incident so that we could keep a very close eye on the wound healing. Happily and against the odds, Chloe healed extremely well and is not lame. The birth of her colt foal was routine and she is about to be inseminated.

The picture below shows the healed scar and gives you an idea on the severity of the wound.