Texas Equine Veterinary Association

www.texasequineva.com • 11 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Megan Petty, DVM, is an associate equine veterinarian at Tularosa Equine Clinic in Tularosa, New Mexico, and a 2012 graduate of Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine and practitioner with a special interest in reproduction, internal medicine, and race horses. She is passionate about educating horse owners and spending time with her husband Bryan, and their dogs Maverick and Ray, on their breeding farm Creekside Farm near Bent. Clementine, a 15-year old pregnant Quarter Horse mare, presented at 4:45 p.m. to me via a photo and a comment from her owner stating, "I think I need help." Per the information from the owner, Clementine had been normal (certainly without the extra wooden appendage) at feeding time at 6:30 a.m. and was thought to have been "okay" around noontime. On presentation, rectal temperature was 103 F, with a heart rate of 60, and she was tachypnic. Intravenous sedation was administered and a rectal palpation was performed to assess penetration into the abdomen. No penetration was appreciated and the seven-month-gestational-age foal was determined to be alive. The piece of wood appeared to be a slat from a wooden pallet and the visible protruding piece measured 15 inches long by 6 inches wide and was firmly seated in her caudal thigh roughly at the level of the tuber ischii. The skin around the entry point of the wooden slat was cleaned and blocked and the wound was extended dorsally and ventrally. With gentle traction the piece of pallet was removed. The portion that was embedded in her thigh measured five and a half inches long. Digital palpation of the hole was performed and a few splinters were visible within the wound tract and palpable slightly cranial in the wound. The pallet had penetrated between the semitendinosus and semimembranosus muscles with only slight muscle tearing through the mid portion of the semitendinosus muscle. Wound lavage was performed and all seemed right with the world. You'd think that would be it and a happy ending and simple resolution to his prickly situation would be forthcoming . . . well that's not how things generally work out. Further exploration of the wound revealed a "splinter" at the deepest reaches of the original wound. With digital manipulation through the existing wound I was able to roll the "splinter" caudally. Unfortunately, when the "splinter" was pulled from the wound it turned out to be a bent nail. The edges of the skin wound were extended further dorsally and ventrally to allow better exploration of the deeper portions of the wound, and a "chunk" of wood was then palpable branching off cranially deep within the initial wound tract. This piece of wood felt to be approximately two and a half inches in width. After much sweating, swearing, and further extension of the skin incision, blunt dissection through muscle layers, and great patience on the part of the mare the "chunk" of wood was removed. The distal end was in fact only one and a half inches wide. However, the rest of the piece was 10 inches long coursing dorsally above the brim of the pelvis and toward midline. This piece was removed with firm traction and a tight hold with a towel clamp. The mare was started on a course of systemic antibiotics and anti- inflammatories and the owners were informed that despite not locating a penetrating abdominal wound, there was still a risk given the length and directionality of the second piece of wood removed. The mare did well for three days, but unfortunately on the fourth day, the mare was found down in her pen. She got up willingly and ambulated well, however a few hours later she got down again and the owners were unable to encourage her to rise. Given the rapid decline in her clinical state and her inability to rise the owners elected to have her euthanized and declined post-mortem examination. Sadly, we did not have the happy ending we hoped for, however it further hammered home what we all know to be true—horses certainly can hurt themselves in the strangest ways. Foreign BODY What is the craziest thing that you have removed (or found) in a horse? We want to hear from you! Article guidelines: • Please submit high-quality pictures or diagnostic images (#picturesoritdidnthappen) of the foreign body in the horse. • Please include a few paragraphs on the workup and outcome of the case. • Please include a photo of yourself, a short bio, and your credentials as you would like them published in The Remuda. • Disclaimer: This may become a multiple series article in more than one issue of The Remuda, so your submission may be included in a future issue. • Submit cases to Dr. Piper Norton at piper@texasema.com. Series by Megan Petty, DVM The

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