leg injury

Question
hello, thanks for your time, i have a 5 year old horse(family pet) who, on Sunday night, impelled himself onto a steel t-post. It went right into the armpit area of his front leg. we had a vet come out, and now we r just giving him time to see if he has major nerve damage or just more muscle injury. he is now putting weight on the leg BUT..... he can not pick it up when he walks he just drags it while he is walking, then when he gets to where he is going he then stands on it(more each time i go out to check on him). what i want to know is first what would you do, and how long would you give him?  Also, do you have any ideas  that could help me with his recovery.  
                                 thanks again

                                       michelle

Answer
Michelle:

Im sorry to say, your horse has nerve damage. There has been damage to the brachial plexus in your horse where the major nerves supplying the limb come out from the spinal cord. You can only give this horse treatment to maximize the outcome. I think he should be on antibiotics and antiinflammatory drugs, including bute or banamime and a steroid (to help control inflammation affecting the nerves). These types of injuries are pretty serious. He may not gain full use of that limb again and I think there is a certain likelihood for that to be the outcome. He should probably be kept in a stall and the wound must be kept as clean as possible. The nerve damage includes, at very least, damage to the Radial nerve. Keep your horse as comfortable as possible while you give him time to heal. I dont know the size of the wound but you are looking at weeks to months of healing and rehab. The nerve damage may improve during this time, but as I said, it may not return to normal. It may also not change alot, it depends on how severe the injury to the brachial plexus was. If it was completely severed, there will be no improvment in the nerve damage. Good luck to you. Please feel free to contact me with questions again.