Types of musculoskeletal trauma
• Wounds and lacerations
• Skin
• Deep structures (tendon, ligament, joint, bone)
• Vascular injury
• Nerve injury
• Fracture
Patient assessment
• Horses may be frantic and distressed following trauma
• Use appropriate restraint to keep you and your patient safe during assessment
• Use sedation
o Most equine sedatives also provide analgesia as well as provide chemical restraint
o Will decrease horse's anxiety for thorough assessment
• Anatomy
o Knowledge of anatomy is critical to appropriate assessment
o Appropriate identification of affected structures
o Determines necessity of immediate treatment
o Will dictate method of stabilization for transport
o Anatomic relationships very important
• Integument
• Muscle
• Vascular and nerve
• Tendon/ligament
• Synovial structures: joints, tendon sheaths, bursa
• Bone
o Location, Location, Location
• Small wounds in the wrong location can be life-threatening
• Based on location some fractures cannot be repaired
Integument
• Lacerations and wounds
o When involving only the skin, subcutaneous tissue and fascia they usually will heal well
o Some may require extensive wound care management long term
• Burns
o As in human burn patients these require extensive management locally and systemically
Muscle
• Muscle damage is confined to the areas above the carpus and tarsus
• Not necessarily life or performance threatening unless extensive
• Myositis can be a bigger concern than direct trauma
o Clostridial Myositis
Vascular injury
• Laceration of large vessels can result in exsanguination
• Damage to major blood supply to the limb can result in loss of the limb – either by transection or blunt trauma
Nerve injury
• Loss of sensation
o Can return over time
• Loss of function
o Can lose function of a limb which is life-threatening
• Examples: suprascapular, radial, or femoral nerve paralysis
