Advice re possible joint/tendon sheath infection :-(

T

thermidor08

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 December 2008
Messages
82
Location
by the sea
Visit site
Hi, I need some advice! Horse had small cut on fetlock last weekend, scrubbed and kept eye on it. Monday it was warm and quite swollen, called vet who prescribed antibiotics/bute over the phone (they know my horse VERY well!!) and asked to be kept updated. Tuesday morning his leg was hugely swollen and hot and horse was lame, vet came out and opened it up, cleaned it and probed about, said there was a "possibility" it could be tendon sheath or infection in joint but he was only about 3/10 lame so not classic hopping lame signs! Gave iv antibiotic and steroid to bring swelling down and to continue with our antibiotics and bute for next few days. The swelling did subside by next morning but is still warm and swollen around his fetlock, it's hard to determine if he is lame as he is on 2 bute a day and I'm concerned there is more to it. This horse lives out 24/7 and is never straightforward! The course of meds ends today, would you expect the heat and swelling to have gone by now?
 
When I've ever had a horse with a suspected tendon sheath or joint injury where penetration is suspected into these areas it's been treated as a medical emergency. Vet's I have had have required transport to the hospital so they can better control risk of accidentally introducing infection and then they have injected saline solution into the affected area to see if it comes out of the wound then they know if it has been penetrated.

If penetrated has been flushed then horse treated with daily antibiotic injections and hylauronic acid has been used on a tendon sheath injury on a horse I used to share. From what I gather as your horse isn't very lame the vet suspects that there has been no penetration. All my vets have treated the injury as if it might be rather than wait to see if infection develops.

Don't know if this helps but wish you all the best.
 
Thanks for your reply. Have spoken to my vet who believes he just has a nasty infection so we're trying a different course of antibiotics, if they don't work then we'll have to take him up to the hospital for further investigation.... his second home!!
 
My horse became cast in his stable 2 weeks ago and lacerated his tendon sheath on his hock joint, it was only about an inch long but the vet was unable to deterine how deep it was. Due to this, as a previous poster stated it had to be treated as an emergency and within 2 hours I had to get him on the box and drive him down to Newbury (not a nice journey as its 80 miles away!) As you couldn't tell how deep the wound was he firstly needed to be x-rayed and kept in overnight, as he didn't react to the anti-bios he actually needed to go for surgery the next day to flush out the wound as it was septic and they scoped the cut to make sure nothing else was damaged.
All in all ... I was extremly lucky I had insurance as my bills just come thorugh of £3.5 k :(
He's been back a week now and we're looking at 6 weeks box rest before our re-assesment.
Hope yours isn't as serious but do keep us updated and I will give you all the advice I can lol! I have the full vet report which is a really interesting read :)

SS x
 
Generally your horse would be crippled if it had a tendon sheath/ joint infection. it would be running a temp too....

Sounds like your horse has a nasty cellulitis. has the vet been back out??
 
I'm amazed your bet has been quite so laid back about it. As a poster above has said, any suspicion of tendon sheeth infection is treated as a medical emergency.

My horse was rigorously treated daily for a week by the vet for just such suspicion. Stabled (obviously) to reduce movement, and heavily bandaged.

Hope your horse is ok.
 
experience of both....one with joint infection barly lame at all but sadly we lost her as thy could not clear the infection even under anesthetic

tendon sheath was cripped lame and was on 3 legs

dont always judge by lameness xxx
 
Sorry for the late reply! Thanks for all your input, I was and am 100% happy with my vets diagnosis and trust them completely. As I said he was confident it was a nasty infection and that the tendon sheath was not affected, it was just finding which antibiotics work for him! He managed to open it up running around Monday so had to have it cleaned and dressed, vet ideally wants him confined to stable to limit further infection risk and restrict movement to allow wound to heal. Unfortunately this is not an option as mine live out 24/7 in our 5 acre field and we don't have access to stables! I have managed to section him in a drier paddock to minimize dressing getting wet and am changing it twice daily. He is on new antibiotics and seems a lot happier, swelling going down and less heat in it. Fingers crossed he's on the mend :-) Thoroughbreds eh!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top