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Treatment of foot lameness obviously relates to the
cause. In some cases specific treatment may be indicated
e.g. a foot abscess needs to be drained and poulticed.
No matter what the diagnosis is, in foot lameness cases
and indeed many other causes of lameness, foot trimming
and balancing are fundamental to successful resolution
of lameness.
Medical treatments used include joint or bursal injections
of anti-inflammatories or compounds which assist with
joint repair and maintenance; these can be used in cases
of coffin joint or navicular bursal inflammation. Tiludronic
acid can be used in cases where alteration in bone
modelling is required, such as in some navicular disease
cases. Oral anti-inflammatory pain relief such as ‘bute’ will
also frequently form part of treatment protocols in horses
with foot lameness.
Surgery may be performed to obtain more information as
well as used in treatment. Coffin joint arthroscopy and
navicular bursoscopy can be used to see inside these
synovial structures helping to visualise damaged or
affected tissue. During surgery ‘tidying up’ of damaged
tissue can also be performed. Other surgical procedures
may include cutting out of tissue, such as keratomas
(a type of benign tumour within the foot) or infected areas
of pedal bone. As a last resort, neurectomies can be
performed i.e. cutting nerves to remove pain sensation
from the feet of chronically lame horses.
Diagnosing the foot as the cause of the lameness is
relatively straight forward; yet identifying affected
structures and tissues with reliable specificity remains
the challenge. Fortunately treatment strategies have
improved and diagnostic procedures exist now which
can help solve even the most elusive of problems.
05
Foot care
Hoof wall injury.
Equine
foot care
The treatment and management
of foot lameness
A few examples of causes
of foot lameness:
nail bind/prick
foot imbalance
foot abscess
thrush
solar bruising
corns
sheared heals
canker
puncture wounds
coronary band and hoof wall
lacerations
quittor
pedal bone fractures
hoof wall separation (white line
disease)
pedal bone infection
keratoma
navicular disease
coffin joint osteoarthritis
laminitis
deep digital flexor tendonitis
coffin joint collateral ligament injury