The subextensorius recess may be safely accessed arthroscopically in foals.

A 9-year-old Thoroughbred broodmare presented with a mass rostral to the medial canthus of the left eye. The mass was removed under general anaesthesia and the wound bed infiltrated with carboplatin emulsion before partially closing using a Z-plasty. The mass recurred and subsequently was resected twice. It has not recurred 68 weeks post-treatment. The second case describes removal of a granulomatous mass from the metatarsus of a yearling Thoroughbred colt. Skin expanders and a rotational flap were used to allow tension-free closure. This required two separate surgeries to firstly insert the skin expanders and secondly to remove the mass, the expanders and to close the defect. The wound healed with good cosmesis. There have been few reports on the use of skin flaps in equine reconstructive surgery in the last 30 years. This report details two cases of wound closure where skin flaps were used to achieve primary intention wound healing.

The stifle is a complex joint and, when faced with a patient suffering from pain in this area, a veterinary surgeon will often use radiography as the first port of call. This article describes the radiographic projections routinely acquired of the stifle region, and the common conditions diagnosed with this imaging modality, while acknowledging that additional imaging modalities are often required to reach a final diagnosis.

Summary Background Tissue expansion is a well‐established technique in reconstructive surgery. Self‐inflating tissue expanders (STE) have not been widely adopted by veterinary surgeons, and clinical descriptions of their use in horses are lacking. Objective To describe the indications, clinical experiences and outcomes of a series of equine cases that used a hydrogel‐based STE to assist soft tissue reconstruction. Study design Prospective clinical study. Methods Case details, surgical techniques and outcomes were recorded for horses requiring use of an STE, using a predesigned data collection sheet completed by the treating surgeon. All horses underwent two surgical procedures as part of their treatment: one to place the STE(s) and a second to remove the device(s) and perform reconstructive surgery using the expanded tissue. Results Twenty horses had STEs implanted at seven clinics and had sufficient follow‐up for inclusion in the study. Indications for using the expanders included the following: expansion of skin prior to excision of a neoplastic lesion (n = 13), repair of a sinocutaneous fistula (n = 2), repair of chronic scarring or a nonhealing wound (n = 2), repair of a full‐thickness ear pinna defect (n = 1) and repair of a rectovestibular injury (n = 2). The degree of tissue expansion was graded as good in 19/20 cases (95%) and provided sufficient tissue to cover the entire defect in 11/20 cases (55%). STE‐associated complications occurred in 9/20 horses (45%), but none of these complications were serious. The final clinical outcome was graded by the treating surgeon as good or excellent in 15/20 horses (75%). Main limitations Only one type of STE device is described, and its use was not compared with other treatments. Information regarding use of the STE at locations other than the head (n = 3) is limited. Conclusions Use of a STE device in horses resulted in no serious complications and provided a good outcome in a variety of equine clinical cases.