Well time is flying when you are having fun! I cannot believe it has been 8 weeks already! It seems like I got here only yesterday. This week was very busy and I will try to provide the highlights as usual!
We had two horses come in for a condylar fracture repairs.
One horse had a condylar fracture on the third metacarpal bone, while the other
horse had a condylar fracture on the third metatarsal bone. In order to fix the
fractures, we needed to place two screws and a plate in each horse in order
help the areas heal. The danger with any recovery or surgery is fracture to a
leg, so both the induction and recovery was slightly more stressful because a
fracture was already present! Both horses went down smoothly and surgery went
very well. I was able to scrub in during one of the procedures and assist the
surgeon by lavaging the area, blotting and retracting tissue. The horses got up
in one try and stayed on their feet very nicely. Here are some pictures of the
metatarsal fracture and the repair (I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of
the metacarpal fracture):
Two days later one of the horses was showing signs of colic.
They were pawing at the ground, circling, getting up and down and were very uncomfortable.
I was working that day and called the veterinarian on call. We began to bolus
10 liters of fluids, hoping that would help make the patient more comfortable
and help treat the colic medically, rather than surgically. After this was done
the horse was still uncomfortable so xylazine and detomidine was administered
to help alleviate the pain while the veterinarian could drive in to rectally
palpate the horse. The horse was found to have a substantial cecal impaction
and needed surgery right away. Other staff members were called in to help with
anesthesia and the horse was prepped for surgery. The cecum was identified and
an enterotomy was performed. The cecum was flushed in order to remove the
impaction. Once the surgery was over, the horse recovered nicely and has been
monitored for gastrointestinal sounds in all four quadrants as well as bowel
movements. The horse has been slowly introduced to food and has been steadily
recovering. The horse is still not out of the woods yet, but is making a steady
recovery. The other horse recovered smoothly following surgery and was
discharged home.
Another horse presented to the clinic for roaring. We passed
a scope and identified the paralyzed side. The surgeon performed a ventral cordectomy
(VC) and the horse was discharged home two days later.
Another horse presented to the clinic for roaring as well.
The horse had a VC done in March and needed to be re-evaluated. When the scope
was passed the horse had a pea-sized hole to breathe through. The horse had an
iatrogenic glottis stenosis. The surgeon used the endoscope to guide the
procedure and made an incision ventral to the glottis. They removed the tissue
and helped the horse to breathe better. The horse was discharged home the
following day.
A racehorse presented to the clinic for exercise intolerance. A lameness exam was done in order to see if it was due to any soreness issues. There was nothing remarkable with the lameness so a scope was passed through their nose in order to visualize their larynx to see if the horse was suffering from laryngeal paralysis. It was found that the horse had an entrapped epiglottis. This is when aryepiglottic fold envelops the apex and lateral margins of the epiglottis. A endoscope was used to guide the procedure and the horse recovered well and was discharged home.
Its hard to believe I have been here for 8 weeks already. I look forward to what these last few weeks will bring me.
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