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EQUINE VETERINARY EDUCATION / AE / APRIL 2018
2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 < 5 5 < 10 10 < 15
Number of years working in equine practice 15 < 20 20 < 25 25 < 30 ≥ 30
Fig 1: The mean number of injuries sustained per year by veterinary surgeons working in equine practice stratified by number of years spent in equine practice (showing standard deviation for each group).
injuries occurred during normal working hours (i.e. not while on call). Table 2 shows a summary of the ‘environment’ when the
injury occurred and the purpose of examination. In summary, 38% of injuries occurred while the veterinary surgeon was doing ‘pleasure horse work’; 37% of injuries occurred while the horse was sedated; 30% of respondents said that another form of restraint was being used (59% of which was a twitch, 23% of which were using stocks). Most frequently (48% of all responses), the owner or client was the horse handler at the time of the injury, followed by groom (19%) and veterinary nurse (15%). The most common reasons for examination at the time of
the worst injury were foot lameness (11%) and dental examination (7%), followed by other very common procedures that the normal equine veterinary practitioner would be doing on a regular basis (Table 2).
Anatomical site, cause and treatment of injury The most frequent sites of this ‘worst’ injury were the leg (29% of all responses), head (23%) or hand (10%). Most injuries were described as bruising (44% of all injuries), fracture (22%) or laceration (17%). The main cause of injury was a kick with hindlimb (49%), followed by strike with forelimb (12%) and crush (5%). Of 384 responses relating to treatment, 23% involved dressing of wound(s), 22% required treatment for fracture and 21% involved physiotherapy (Table 3). In addition to the more frequent outcomes listed in Table 3,no treatment was required in 13 cases, rest alone was reported as being required in eight cases, self-treatment was reported as the sole outcome in nine cases, dental work was required in five cases and three respondents reported ‘other’ treatment. The remaining 108 respondents gave details of an immediate outcome (see below) without making reference to specific treatments.
Immediate outcome of injury Of all reports, 33% of injuries resulted in a hospital admission of which 43% (71 cases) required hospital admission for longer
© 2018 EVJ Ltd
than 24 h. GP attendance was required in 16% of cases and 7% of injuries resulted in a loss of consciousness (Table 3).
Post injury and return to work A total of 44% of respondents were unable to return to work immediately after their ‘worst’ injury. The median length of time off work was 7 days. The median length of time to return to a full range of duties was 18 days and the median length of time to become fully recovered was 21 days. An accident form was completed by 37% of respondents but only 14% of injuries were reported to the Health and Safety Executive. Alternative work, at least for some period of time, had to be taken by 8% of respondents. Only 7% of injured vets received occupational health advice and the same percentage received advice about return to work, whereas 22% of respondents stated that the injury had an impact on their psychological wellbeing.
General/current health of participants and other chronic injuries/illnesses attributable to equine veterinary work In general, the vast majority of respondents (91%) rated their health as very good or good. Almost one-third (32%) of respondents knew of an equine veterinary practitioner colleague who had given up equine work, veterinary work altogether, retired or had been killed as a result of an injury sustained while working with a horse and 31% of respondents said they had chronic injuries or illnesses attributable to equine veterinary work.
Equine veterinary surgeons’ opinion on how injuries could be reduced Of all respondents, 87% gave details on how they thought equine veterinary-related injuries could be reduced. Text mining identified the following top five responses: better handlers (including the ability to take trained staff on calls) in 149 (28%) respondents who answered this question; more frequent use of sedation in 129 (24%) respondents; owner education about risks and use of sedatives in 121 (22%)
Average number of injuries per year
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