Advice needed about bone scan

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IsabelleJ

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Have been posting here about my horse who was first of all just 'not right', and vets came out and diagnosed him as lame. First thread
Second thread

He seems to be lame in two legs, one front and one hind, not sure if it's a diagonal pair. Vets have recommended a bone scan to find out where the problem is. However, people on yard have been telling me how awful a procedure the bone scan is to put a horse through, and that I should have a back lady out to do H Wave treatment.

Vet cannot tell if lameness is due to back or legs. I would need a vets' referral for the H Wave treatment, and am concerned about it having a bad effect or no effect if the problem is not to do with the back. What I have been told about the bone scan is that the horse will have to be kept isolated for 3 days, unmucked out, etc etc. Has anyone else had this, is it that bad, and how did the horse cope?

I really need to know more about these procedures to make any decisions. In the case of lameness, what has been the preferred diagnostic route for you? (Am worried that unnecessary scanning will eat up my insurance money that I may need for other things.)

Please help, I am very very confused! Thanks!

Isabelle
 
Have the bone scan and ignore the rest. Yes the horse has to be kept in semi isolation, I think for 48hrs. When Jesper had his they still obviously fed and watered and they skipped him out. He had a huge bed so he could be deep littered but by no means was he 'abandoned' in any way.
Jesper had his bone scan as like your boy the vets could not decide where the issue was. It was key in diagnosing his hind suspensory issue and was great as it ruled out any back problems. If your vets are recommending I'd definitely go for it.
As far as I'm aware it's probably the simplest diagnostic route when cause and location of pain is completely unknown. Nerve blocks and the like are pointless until pain is narrowed down to a smaller area and the same is true for ultrasound scans.
Don't forget you can always phone your vets and talk through your concerns. But they aren't going to do anything that isn't in your horse's best interests.
 
You could try themography first? There is a lady up here and the charge is £65 to have the whole body done. The camera picks up heat spots within the body and is totally non invasive. The horse just needs to be cool, and without a rug for 30 mins before being done.

When I had my boy done it highlighted a problem in his hind legs. I had the vet out. On clinical examination he seemed fine, no lameness. Palapation revealed nothing. I then showed vet the thermography image and he palpated the area showing on the image. Positive reaction so we nerve blocked out the suspensories, he gave a better ridden performance so we then scanned and discovered he had PSD.
 
i think you need toknow what the problem is before you can treat it. therfore what good would a back lady doing hw treatment without proper diagnoisis. my horse had a bone scan resently and would say the horse was absalotley fine after it. they inject a little radioactive stuff into horse, horse is heaily sedated scan it and it shows up hot spots.

has the horse been to a proper equine hospital for a lameness workup? if not this would be the starting piont. this will consit of troting up luging nerve blocks x-rays and then depending on finding they might go down the road of bone scan.

first of get horse referred to vet hospitail and take it from there.

the bone scan it is painless and well worth the money.

good luck
 
Thank you, people! I do want to go with what the vets say, they are the experts. But I guess that's the price we pay for moving in horsey circles, everyone wants to have their say!

Horse will be going to equine hospital for scan - should I maybe ask for extra tests at the same time?

Much happier now, thank you, and will ring the vet to discuss on Tuesday. Please, if everyone else has more stories to add, feel free.

Isabelle
 
I do wish people wouldn't comment on things they know nothing about. The amount of bulls**t spoken in the average yard tearoom would cover a football pitch in a week. If you don't know about things keep schtum is my advice, and it looks like your 'friends' have put the fear of God into you. What a shame. My horse was at Bourton Vale at the cotswolds for three weeks many years ago and when I used to visit him I used to walk up the yard and 'talk' to the horses who were patients there, and there were the odd stable that was cordoned off with tape outside the door, so you couldn't cross the line due to those horses having had bone scans on nuclear scintigraphy as its correct term is. One member of staff was responsible for the horse that had been given the bone scan, and they were the only one who would deal with the looking after of it for the 2-3 days that the horse was in isolation. The tools for mucking out, water buckets, rugs etc were for the horse being treated, and the tools were not shared amongst others. The pooh was disposed of in a particular place away from the muck heap presumably to be destroyed safely at a later date, but these were precautions because of the radioactive dye in the horse, the danger to people was probably minimal but no doubt accumulative, in the same way people wear lead jackets when xraying things. Sometimes you have to make the decision for your horse to have difficult or sometimes risky tests to further his treatment, and the advantages often outweigh the diadvantages. I am not suggesting bone scaning is dangerous but obviously it is a decision you and your vet need to make between you and you should IMO ignore your friends comments who are 'ignorant to the facts' and ask your vet. I think if the scan doesn't work then maybe other tests could be done but your horse would have to stop there for a few days so the isotope is out of his system and then the other tests could be done. Please don't worry your horse will not turn green, grow a moustache, or start disco dancing or whatever else you have been told!! Hopefully what he will be is diagnosed and treated accordingly. Good luck x
 
Thanks Applecart, I think my friends are only trying to save my money, but I honestly do not agree with treating something that hasn't been diagnosed yet! It is very reassuring to hear the facts about bone scanning - I am assuming that I'm allowed to send my horse with a molasses lick, which will probably make him happier than if I were able to visit, LOL!

However, he is a big wuss, so I'm not sure how he would cope if he started to glow... Probably spook at himself or something! I really do appreciate all the replies - that is why I love HHO so much, there are so many knowledgeable people around who are happy to help!

Isabelle
 
I don't know where the hell your friend sent her horse for a bone scan, but it's nothing like that!

The horse is injected in the vein with a short acting radioactive isotope (technetium). This isotope has a short half life and decays away to nothing in about 72 hours. The radioactivity is not a risk to the horse on a one off occasion, however it can become a risk to the personnel in the vet hospital, who handle radioactive horses regularly. So, the horse will be isolated for 24-48 hours afterwards.

However after a day or two the radioactivity has decayed to the point where it is no longer a risk to the people handling the horse, and it can go home and be treated as normal by the owner.

The horses are not 'abandoned' by any stretch of the imagination. They are given plenty of food and water, and are checked regularly. It's just that anyone who goes near them at the height of the radioactivity needs to be wearing lead gowns etc, so handling is kept to a minimum for this time.

Perhaps your friend has experience of a horse that has had radioactive iridium wires inserted to treat sarcoids around the eye? This is a very radical treatment, and the level of radioactivity is much higher and presents much more of a risk to human handlers. In this case the horses are put into total isolation in a lead lined stable (there are only 1 or 2 places in the country that offer this treatment) and is monitored from a distance and only seen to give food and water. Yes this is extreme but it's only used when other treatments have failed.

No horse ever died because it wasn't skipped out or groomed for a couple of days! But the risks to human health from long term exposure to radioactivity are very real, hence the protective measures that have to be used.
 
Merlin had the bone scan done a couple of years ago.

I dont think it worried him a bit to not be mucked out for a few days, so long as he was fed and watered
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I noticed no ill effects at all and he seemed fine.

What I found weird was that I was told he had to wear boots to stop the radiation in the urine from burning his legs....... What about his willie
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Oh phew, I am so relieved! It really helps to know the details of what actually goes on during the bone scan, so thank you everyone for letting me know.

I'm sure if he has lots of food, Sidney will be perfectly happy - I'm sure I'm not the only one who humanises them and thinks her little darling will be lonely, LOL!

I am a bit scared by radioactive wee though!
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Isabelle
 
Well I worked out that as merlin is more than happy to lay in the part of the bed with the MOST droppings in, that he would be delighted not to have to search for some
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