[cowpony09]

My 6 1/2 year old mare has a large scar on her right knee. I was told that she aquired it as a foal and that it only was a skin injury and that no muscles and tendons were involved. So far that has seamed true, she has never had any kind on lameness or stiffness in any of her knees. She has however from time to time devoloped strange sores on her scar. At first i thought they were simply puncture wounds, how ever they have returned several times since then. These pictures are from the worst time and i got out alot of junk (puss, hard chunks . . . yuck) and once treated it healed very quickly. May I also say i was gone while this wound developed, if i was home i would like to think it would not have gotten this bad.

 

[SuperStarsSugar]

That is really, really odd (and a tad gross). Do you have any idea what is wrong?

 

[JumpingTheMoon]

Ouch. I would talk to a vet and see about getting an xray. I know someone else mentioned it in another thread, the possibility of there being some kind of bone fragments or some infection near the bone that needs excised.

 

[Macslady]

Yes, I would have a vet check it and I wouldn't be surprised that she is biting it open because it doesn't feel right.

 

[farmpony84]

It makes me think something is in it or there is an infection. My QH had a hole in his face that used to swell and then puss up and drain, for YEARS. I was told it was a puncture wound. Had the vet out several times, he actually said (2 different vets actually) said that it looked like a man made hole, maybe for sinus drainage. His face did that for probably 10 years off and on. about 5 years ago I took him to get a root canal (on a vet's suggestion - ANOTHER one) and geuss what... All those years, it was a toothe. The reason the hole stopped opening and oozing was because the tooth had finally died. When they went to do the root canal the tooth actually fell out in the vets hand.

So... I geuss the moral of the story is, check the obvious but don't rule out the stranger possibilities either...

 

[StormyBlues]

^agreed, I would have the vet x-ray that. that is probably one of the stranger things I have seen! Please tell us what they say! I want to know!

 

[cowpony09]

I've kinda had the theary that maybe a piece of debry ended up in the wound and healed over and 6 years later its trying to work its way out. I've heard of that happening with people

 

[eventerdrew]

not to scare you, but that looks a lot like my mare's stifle injury that she had when she was 3. It was called a sequestrum and it was a piece of dead bone fragment that was irritating the muscles and bones around it. She had hers for about a year and it would continually come open and never quite healed. We had hers removed by surgery and she has been fine since. HOWEVER, sequestrums are pretty rare. So rare that my 45 year old vet had never seen one in person. So it is entirely possible that it is something else. Definitely have your vet check it out asap. Reoccuring wounds are never good.

 

[Ryle]

Yep, your story and the wounds would indicate that your horse likely has a sequestrum from an old wound. You need to have your vet out to x-ray the area to see what is causing it. Likely there is a piece of dead or damaged bone that needs to be surgically removed. These can continue for years if left untreated.

 

[~*~anebel~*~]

There is a foreign body in there that the body is trying to get rid of. It is actually quite common to see stuff like that, although usually the wound just never entirely heals, instead of healing and then opening back up. Call the vet yesterday!

Sometimes with flushing you can get the sequestrum out, but it usually means surgery to get rid of that.
Depending on what the X-rays are like and the shape that the bones are in will determine what the prognosis is like..

Good luck!

 

[mom2pride]

Makes me wonder if when she lays down she gets straw, or other 'sticky' materiels shoved into the old scar, and then it creates an abscess there? That could explain the recurrence as well, as that scar tissue will be more 'sensitive', due to there being no hair to protect it.

 

[StormyBlues]

Funny thing, I see the chip of bone being more probable than straw or shavings upsetting it!

 

[cowpony09]

will there be any perminent harm if i dont not have what ever is in there removed?

 

[stacieandtheboys]

It will never heal. I had a mare that had a puncture would in her jaw. We would do abx it would heal, then a few weeks later start to ooze again. This went on for a year. Finally we switched vets and it turned out there was an infection in the bone. He sedated her lanced it and shaved the infected bone off. After that she was perfect. If there is no infection in there right now by not treating the cause of it you are opening her up to potentially getting a really bad infection and causing even bigger problems.

 

[cowpony09]

yeah the straw and shavings is even less likely being that my families horses are not kept stabled.

 

[tealamutt]

this really sounds like a sequestrum to me. The main problem with leaving it as is (if that really is what is wrong) is that the infected, necrotic bone could cause a more severe infection as it will always create that open, weeping wound. This leaves a potential for a systemic infection. I have also seen one that was in an alpaca for several years in the shoulder blade. It eventually began migrating and ended up doing a lot of destruction in the process, damaging muscle as it went.

 

[smrobs]

Since it is a recurring problem, I would have the vet check it immediately. If it is left untreated, it is doing more damage to the entire area every time it flares up again. If the infection gets deep enough, it could get into the joint or tendons or even the bones and cause permanent lameness. In an extreme case, it may cause you to have to put her down. This is not something that can be left to it's own devices because it will not get better, only worse as time goes on.

 

[NorthernMama]

Any word from a vet yet?

 

[Alwaysbehind]

Another vote for having a vet look at it.

Why would you want to just leave it and not call the vet? I can not imagine it is comfortable for your horse.

 

[sillybunny11486]

Looks like a vampire bite LOL. Ive never had a recuring wound, just one that would get irritated and scab again a little. Something other then a small cut I always call the vet. Puncture wounds should always be looked at by the vet, no mater how small.