Annular Ligament Desmitis

K

katefc55

Member
Joined
28 April 2013
Messages
13
Visit site
Our nine year old pony has been diagnosed after scans with annular ligament desmitis. She is only very slightly lame on the damaged leg (left fore), showing on the right rein when lunged. After six weeks box rest prior to the diagnosis, there has been no change in the slight swelling on her fetlock - the vet has given her another 6-8 weeks before rescanning and she is allowed on paddock rest. She is a fairly sedentary pony anyway. Have heared mixed reviews about the op to cut the ligament, wondered if anyone had any experiences with turning a horse away and the ligament healing, or whether I have to bite the bullet and have the op. Pony is my daughters, she did Pony Club and low level BS showjumping.
 
Lots of threads here discussing annular ligament problems with people giving feedback on their outcome and some info about the operation.

https://forums-secure.horseandhound...ent-strains-outcome&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...omy-(tendon-injury)&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...-please-give-advise&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...ar-Ligament-Problem&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...r-ligament-injuries&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...em-cell-s-on-Monday&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...-hole-in-her-tendon&highlight=anular+ligament
https://forums-secure.horseandhound...-pressure-on-tendon&highlight=anular+ligament
 
Can't advise re turning away, but my horse had the op to cut his left hind AL on 11th Aug last year, he is now 19. His ALD was secondary to a small tear in his sesamodian ligament. At first the vet thought it was primary, and advised either steriod injection or the op. He said the steriod may help in the short term, but chances are we would need to do the op anyway. I decided to go for the op, which was a good job as the surgeon found the other ligament issue when doing his pre-op scans. Surgeon said the steriods would not have helped in his case, and advised he had a very good chance of recovery as it had been caught quickly, he also had PRP injected into the tear during the op.
He got the all clear to come back into work just before Christmas. Sadly lots of other minor, unrelated things have stopped this happening! (mud fever, bruised feet after pulling shoes, a small bone chip and a bruise that abscessed!) Vet is actually coming up to see him this afternoon to see if he is sound from bone chip (in suspensory ligament, caused by trauma) to start work again, fingers crossed!
In your case I would be chatting with my vet re the options of turning away vs. the op in your ponies case, I guess it would depend on how bad the injury is and whether or not she is insured? (i.e. if she is there would be a 12 month limit on treatment, so you may want to do the op sooner than later.) In my case my horse managed to injure the one leg that was not insured so I had to pay for the op myself, but I am glad I did as he is sound behind and you cannot even tell which leg it was (no residual wingalls, which I was advised there might be). Good luck!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top