34th Annual Scientific Meeting proceedings

Objectives:

Third carpal bone slab fractures in racehorses are not uncommon and have serious consequences for a horse’s athletic career. This report describes arthroscopic debridement of incomplete third carpal bone slab fractures (ISF) in racehorses and their racing performance outcome.

Methods:

Medical records of 35 racehorses from one equine hospital that underwent arthroscopic debridement of ISF were reviewed. ISF were defined as fractures with a lytic linear appearance on the dorsoproximal-dorsodistal obliqueradiograph (skyline), but not involving 2 articular surfaces on the standing views. The fractures were classified as dorsal plane or sagittal plane. Follow-up information was analyzed from race records to evaluate racing performance parameters before/after surgery. 

Results:

Thirty-five horses met the inclusion criteria, with 60% (21) Thoroughbreds and 40% (14) Standardbreds, ranging from 2-4 years old. Dorsal plane ISF occurred in 22 (63%) horses and sagittal ISF in 13 horses (37%).  Sixty-seven percent (20) returned to racing after surgery. Seventy-one percent (10) of Standardbreds and 63% (10) of Thoroughbreds returned to racing. Sagittal ISF had a more favorable outcome than dorsal ISF (82% vs 62%).

Conclusions:

Surgical debridement of ISF was associated with a favorable prognosis for return to racing.  Early recognition of this pathology prior to progression to a complete slab fracture is advantageous for both treatment options and prognosis. We hypothesize that by debriding the articular surface at the location of the ISF, less force is subsequently exerted on this area when the horse is back in training, reducing pain and decreasing the risk of re-injury.