Barbaro Has Another Significant Setback
By RICHARD ROSENBLATT, AP Racing Writer
1/28/07
Barbaro suffered another significant setback in his recovery, forcing doctors to choose a risky approach to try and save the ailing Kentucky Derby winner.
Barbaro no longer is bearing weight on the right hind leg he shattered eight months ago in the Preakness Stakes after undergoing surgery Saturday to place two steel pins through a bone. The biggest fear is that the bone bearing the weight _ the cannon bone _ can break.
"We will continue to treat Barbaro aggressively as long as he remains bright, alert and eating," Dr. Dean Richarson, chief surgeon at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, Pa., said Sunday. "This is another significant setback that exemplifies how complex his medical situation remains because both hind limbs have major problems."
This is the first time in weeks the right hind leg has been the focus of concern. For months, it was the left hind leg that put Barbaro's recovery in serious jeopardy because of laminitis, the often-fatal hoof disease.
Richardson, in an update released by the New Bolton Center, said Saturday's surgery went well.
"He had a perfect recovery from anesthesia and has been in and out of the sling since then," Richardson said. "His left hind foot appears to be stable at this time. We remain concerned about both front feet. Remarkably, his attitude and appetite were excellent overnight."
Richarson said Barbaro has developed a deep abscess that necessitated surgery to remove a new cast and replace it with an external skeletal fixation device, similar to an external brace.
"There is significant risk in this approach, but we believed it was our only option given the worsening of the right hind foot problem," Richardson said. "The major risk of the external skeletal fixation device is that the bone bearing the weight can fracture.
"Unfortunately, we felt we needed to take this risk because this approach offered our only hope of keeping Barbaro acceptably comfortable."
Richardson explained that Barbaro had been uncomfortable on his right hind foot because of the development of a "deep subsolar abscess secondary to bruising when he went through a period of discomfort on the left hind foot.
"It is not laminitis but the undermining of the sole and part of the lateral heel region are potentially just as serious," Richardson said. "We attempted to manage the right hind foot in a cast and then in a custom fabricated brace but it was impossible to have access to the foot for treatment as well as acceptable stability and comfort."
The foot was placed in the external brace to give it a chance to heal, with two pins placed transversely through his right hind cannon bone. The pins are connected to "external sidebars that in turn are connected to a lightweight alloy foot plate." This results in Barbaro not having to bear weight on the foot.
On Saturday, owner Gretchen Jackson told The Philadelphia Inquirer that Barbaro was again facing tough odds.
"He's got a lot of issues, and not any of them is bad enough to say goodbye. But put together it's not a good day for Barbaro," Jackson said.
Roy Jackson said he visited Barbaro after the procedure and the colt was alert and ate his grass. Jackson also said there were no additional problems with the left hind and that it was "doing pretty well."
The procedure came three days after Barbaro had two new casts applied to his hind legs. He received a custom-made plastic and steel brace on his right hind leg. He also got a special orthotic brace on the right foot that will give him additional support and give doctors easier access to an abscess that was drained.
In July, Barbaro developed laminitis in his left hoof because of uneven weight distribution in the limbs, 80 percent of that hoof was removed.
"It's nothing that we haven't been through," Roy Jackson said. "Dr. Richardson has said there would be problems along the road."
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I don't know if this has been mentioned before, but what is your opinion on his quality of life? Do you think they are just stringing him along, hoping to make money on some stud fees? Or that they generally care for the horse's wellbeing?
