Common Foot Injuries of the Equine Athlete

causes are seen in horses in early spring when the grass has high levels of easily fermented starches or in some horses that are predisposed to metabolic disease equine metabolic syndrome. Mechanical laminitis is caused by excessive weightbearing on one leg when the opposite leg is injured. The third trigger is severe illness that causes endotoxemia such as colic colitis and pneumonia.
Foot bruises are commonly seen the day after a hard training session. Soft tissue bruising resembles a hematoma with bleeding into the soft tissues of the foot between the pedal bone and the hoof wall. The most common sign is mild to moderate lameness with reaction to hoof testers. There is usually a pulse in the foot and horses can be sound in one direction on the lunge and lame in another direction. There is significant improvement with rest and antiinflammatory medication but recurrence after removal of medication is common. A nerve block will pinpoint the foot as the source of lameness although radiographs may be normal.
There can also be actual bruising of the pedal bone which is a more serious injury. This can be diagnosed on bone scan where the bone has an increased uptake of signal or on MRI where bone edema of the pedal bone P3 or pastern bone P2 can be seen. Horses usually require a period of rest of one to three months and may require medication such as aspirin Osphos clodronate Disodium and low dose bute phenylbutazone.
Joint inflammation or degenerative joint disease occurs due to the high levels of stress loads during exercise and by general wear and tear. Joints can become painful for many reasons but usually this occurs secondary to trauma excessive twisting andor landing and turning suddenly. This causes inflammation and results in heat joint swelling pain on flexion and lameness. The most common diagnostic test is to administer five ml of a local anesthetic into the joint and quickly reassess the lameness on the lunge there should be relief within five to ten minutes. Xrays are usually negative although some cases may have mild changes at the edge of the joint called osteophytes suggestive of degenerative joint disease. Treatment is easy and effective for months to years when horses are allowed a period of five to seven days of rest after injections with hyaluronic acid HA with or without steroids. We also now commonly use IRAP interleukinreceptor antagonist protein