title: Non-fatal injury occurrence in Southern California Thoroughbred racehorses 2009-2010.
abstract: Private-practice racetrack veterinarians in southern California recorded non-fatal injuries meeting defined criteria in Thoroughbreds for 1 year. Injury incidence was 2.29 injury events per 100 horse-months, which was lower than other studies where trainer reported injury data were collected. Of 477 injuries recorded, 344 (72.1%) were acute and 133 (27.9%) were chronic. Fractures were common (47.6% of injuries), with stress fractures accounting for 14% of injuries. Superficial digital flexor tendonitis and suspensory ligament desmitis accounted for 15.3 and 11.5% of injuries, respectively. Agreement between non-fatal injuries recorded in the current study and those recorded via an existing regulatory system (Equine Injury Database) was poor, with neither system capturing all injuries. Non-fatal injuries occurred 17-29 times more often than fatal injuries. Non-fatal musculoskeletal injury remains an ongoing issue for Thoroughbred racehorses, and an accurate, comprehensive system for recording these injuries is needed.
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Southern California Equine Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 1728, Arcadia, CA 91077, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Blea
authors.affiliation: School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616, USA.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Arthur
authors.affiliation: Gail Holmes Equine Orthopedic Research Center, Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, 300 W Drake Rd., Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. Electronic address: wayne.mcilwraith@colostate.edu.
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: McIlwraith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002140:California; D005260:Female; D006736:Horses / Q000293:injuries*; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D009141:Musculoskeletal System / Q000293:injuries; D013177:Sports; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000662:veterinary
keywords: Diagnosis; Musculoskeletal injury; Prognosis; Thoroughbred racehorses