What should you know about equine osteomyelitis?

The infection may involve the bone surface or deeper bone and can develop after a wound, fracture, surgery, injection, or spread from nearby tissue. Signs vary with location and may include lameness, heat, swelling, sensitivity, a draining tract, poor wound healing, fever, or reduced appetite. A wound that appears small can still communicate with deeper structures. Veterinary examination and imaging help determine whether bone is involved; samples may guide antimicrobial treatment.

Arrange veterinary assessment rather than applying unprescribed products or repeatedly probing a wound. Keep the horse quiet, protect any open area with a clean dressing if advised, and note changes in lameness, appetite, temperature, swelling, and discharge. Treatment may combine prescribed antimicrobial medicine, wound care, drainage, removal of unhealthy tissue, and management of the original injury. Bone grafting may be discussed when infection or injury has left a defect that needs structural support.

Seek urgent veterinary help for rapidly worsening lameness, severe pain, fever, spreading swelling, foul drainage, a puncture near a joint, or a horse that will not bear weight. Collapse, marked weakness, or loss of appetite alongside a wound also needs prompt attention. Early care can limit damage to bone and nearby joints.

Ask whether imaging or a deep sample is needed, which treatments target the infection, how the wound should be dressed, what activity is safe, and how healing will be monitored.