Standing on a nail is
a common and potentially serious injury seen frequently in horses. The nail can
penetrate important structures within the foot such as the deep digital flexor
tendon, the navicular bursa, the pedal bone, or the navicular bone.
This horse stood on a
large fencing nail which penetrated the frog. Unfortunately the nail was
removed before veterinary attention was sought. After cleaning and paring the
sole a blunt probe was introduced into the nail tract. The radiograph above
shows that the nail had gone into the foot very deeply.
From the X – ray
above it can be seen that the nail has possibly ruptured the navicular bursa –
a vital foot structure. To determine if this had occurred
a needle was inserted into the bursa from the heels and a ‘contrast’ agent
injected into it.
This enabled the
navicular bursa to be visualised on the radiograph. Clearly it is intact and
has not been penetrated by the nail. This improves the prognosis for recovery.
The sinus tract was flushed with sterile saline and penicillin. The horse was
also given analgesia and systemic antibiotic treatment.
Digital Radiography
