Читать книгу Fractures in the Horse - Группа авторов - Страница 70

A number of epidemiological studies of racehorse injury or fatality have identified the structures or tissues affected. Some of these studies have relied upon racecourse veterinary reports [1–6] or clinical records [7, 8], whereas others have initiated or used post‐mortem examinations to ensure accurate fracture classification [9–13]. The cost of racecourse post‐mortem programmes often restricts their implementation, but recent work suggests that, provided these are accurate and use precise case definitions, they are invaluable [14]. At the very least, it is important that racecourse veterinary surgeons, reporting to injury databases, attempt to identify which bone is fractured. As the majority of fatal fractures sustained during racing are associated with the metacarpophalangeal joint [3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11], this can often simply involve opening the joint from the dorsal aspect to confirm which and how many bones are involved.