Equine Surgical Hardware: Remove Or Leave It Be?

Hardware used to repair a fracture in a horse’s limb occasionally needs to be removed. This surgery, too, is not without potential complications; there are no accepted guidelines for advising whether surgical hardware should be left in place or removed, reports EquiManagement.

German and Spanish researchers joined forces to summarize published data on implant removal in equine, humans and small animals. They discovered arguments both for and against implant removal.

Arguments for removal of hardware cited:Hardware may cause development abnormalities in growing horses that could affect their athletic career

• Hardware may cause development abnormalities in growing horses that could affect their athletic career
• In 28 percent of cases, the postoperative hardware insertion causes infection which would lead to pain and delayed healing, as well as possible loss of hardware functionality
• Screws may loosen once the fracture is healed and instigate another fracture

Arguments for leaving hardware in place include:

• Removing hardware can cause the limb to fracture again or ongoing infections
• Hardware removal surgery has a complication rate of 12.5 percent
• Neurovascular injury could occur
• Removal of hardware could be more extensive than its implementation

The authors note that the outcome of hardware removal surgery depends on the horse’s age and fracture location. The younger and in better body condition the horse, the better the surgical outcome is expected to be.

Read more at EquiManagement.