Abstract:
Hoof woodpeckers or penetrating foreign bodies in the hoof are frequently found in working horses. A special
pathology is encountered in horses that work in forestry environment. Unlike the metalic foreing body (so called
clou de rue) that just penetrate the sole, the wood goes in by hammering (by sudden pressure). Movement between
the hoof and the 3rd phalanx causes the foreign body to advance in depth.
The study was carried out on a number of 54 working horses in the forestry environment, males, aged between 4 and
14 years. The diagnosis was established on the basis of the clinical examination and the history, the radiological
examination being inconclusive.
As a particularity, the fragmentation of wooden foreign bodies does not occur at the time of extraction but at the time
of hammering through the hard tissues due to the forces that determine the change of the penetration trajectory.
Restraint was achieved by physical and chemical means (sedation and anesthesia). The wound was cleaned and then
the hole in the hoof wall was widened with the help of the hoof knife. The foreign body was extracted using a thick
forceps or a dental extraction forceps.
The dressing was changed every 48h until healing. The wound had been washed with potassium permanganate
solution (KMnO4) or betadine 10%.
