Anatomy & Biomechanics
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Nerve Regeneration Process
The nerve will sprout regenerating nerve units that try to grow down the nerve to ‘reconnect’. This growth occurs at 1inch per month. If it makes a correct connection then recovery of muscle function and skin sensation will occur. However if they do not make a correct connection then recover will unfortunately not occur.
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Fracture repair process
The gap between the two bone ends fills with a blood clot (Hematoma formation) Fibrous tissue begins to fill this gap as well as new blood vessel formation and spongy bone trabeculae. Osteoblasts then migrate to the area and begin to mineralise the fracture site. Bone remodelling continues until it reaches its full strength approximately 2 to 6 months post injury depending on how the above healing stages have progressed, the site of fracture and stability.
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Soft tissue and wound repair process
Bleeding Phase (4-6hrs) – Bleeding occurs directly after the injury/trauma occurs. The amount of bleeding is dependent on the area of injury (if it is an area that is highly vascular or not e.g. muscle injuries will have more bleeding than ligament injuries). Bleeding typically stops approximately 4 to 6 hours after the time of injury. Inflammatory Phase (6hrs to 3 days) – Two major responses occur during this phase: a vascular response and cellular response. The vascular response stimulates vasodilation and vasopermeability. The cellular response involves the emigration of phagocytes, monocytes (which become macrophages), lymphocytes, esoinophils and basophils this combined with a chemical response ensures that tissue debridement, fibrin…
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Interesting Case #1 – Rib Injury
The first of the ‘Interesting Case Studies’ series is kicked off with my own horse (don’t we all just want to wrap them in bubble wrap!). When Ronan was approximately 18 months old he managed to injure the right hand side of his rib cage. He tore through the superficial layers of muscling and some minor damage was done to the intercostal muscles. He had both internal and external stitches, luckily the wound itself healed well and with the use of red light therapy the amount of scar tissue that had developed was less than expected. However, months later, I noticed that he had slightly restricted rib movement on the…