Abstract
Arthroscopic surgery for carpal chip fractures in Thoroughbred racehorses was performed from 1993 to 2001. The prognosis after surgery and subsequent racing performance were surveyed.
The following parameters were surveyed: the rate to return to race, the time to return to race, the number of starts and earning money after surgery. The affected joints were 244 in 228 racing Thoroughbreds, including 20 unraced horses. The number of lesions was 320 and the main lesion incidence was distal lateral radius 139 (43.4%), proximal intermediate carpal bone 43 (13.4%), distal medial radius 32 (10.0%), distal radial carpal bone 48 (15.0%) and proximal third carpal bone 48 (15.0%).
The total rate to return the race was 89.9%, in which the rate of raced horses was 92.8% and the rate of raced horses without the horses that did not race for other reasons was 95.1%. The rate to race of the previously unraced horses was 60%. The average time to return the race was 239.3 days, the average number of starts was 12.5 starts and the average earning money was 13, 820, 000 yen.
The lesion incidence of the carpal chip fractures of the racing Thoroughbreds was found to be the same as the previous reports.
The prognosis for racing performance following arthroscopic surgery for carpal chip fractures in racehorses was found to be excellent.
