Annular Ligament Injuries.

[showjump]

So had vet yesterday (see post further down) and my horse could of injured his annular ligament. Ive done a search and found so useful info, but just wondered what your horses showed. Eg lameness, swelling, heat??

Incase you havent read my other posts. Hes just not quite right behind, but only when asked to go forwards. (abit short) He is fine on the hard ground.

Just hope he hasnt injured it, so i guess just trying get some info, i have never known a horse with this problem.

Oh and also shortest to longest time out of action would be goo too. (Just to depress myself further!)

 

[spannahw]

Sorry to hear your horse is lame. Just to say that when mine had a damaged annular ligament, he was very lame - non-weight bearing, but had very little visible swelling or heat. I've known a couple of other ponies who had more complications with annular ligament. Both were pretty lame at walk but had a fair bit of heat and swelling. Not sure if that was because with them, the ligament constricted the tendon though. Either way, all were very lame.

Mine was on box rest, limited turnout and then field rest all told about 2-3 months I think, whereas the other ponies had to have the ligament cut so were out of action for longer.

Hope it all goes ok and its nothing too serious.

 

[showjump]

See i would of thought he would (like you said ) be much lamer. The vet said he was fine at first, then its only when you make him trot more forwards that its noticable? Also vet flexion test and he was fine.

Hmm suppose im just praying its something else.

 

[Doublethyme]

Sorry to say that my mare wasn't chronically lame when she was diagnosed, just not right behind. No difference on flexion tests, but lamer in trot than walk.

I actually box rested her myself for a week as I was away and she "looked" much sounder at the end of the week, so I turned her out in a small paddock for an hour - she came in lame again behind, so the vet was called. He didn't immediately diagnose annular ligament and wasn't sure what was the problem.

Scans showed she had an area of calcification on the annular ligament and also injured the superficial digital flexor tendon. Whilst no injury site could be seen from the outside, over the months, she has lost hair from the site and you can now see where she must have impacted on something to cause the damage.

She first injured herself in November last year, she was on 2 months box rest, with 10 mins in hand walking a day after the first two weeks. She was then put on paddock rest with no walking from January and is still on it!! She has been back twice for more scans, the last one being beginning of this month and whilst it is showing significant healing, the SDFT injury still needs to repair more, so she is off on paddock rest till beginning of August and will go back to the vets at that point for more scans and a work up.

We are hoping to bring her back into work at that time and then it will be a wait and see on what she can cope with. She is less than 1/10th lame now - was about 3/10ths at her worst, with a small degree of heat and swelling and its more of a weird action than a lameness that is bothering her - my vet said if he definitely knew she moved like that before the accident, he wouldn't be bothered, but we want to make sure she is given enough time in case it is the tendon bothering her.

The annular ligament itself is still thickened compared to the other one, however, it has reduced significantly from the original scans, which is goods news as my vet didn't think it would. Its my understanding that the thickening is what causes the constriction, which damages the tendons, so if in any doubt, it is worth getting annular ligament issues checked and double checked and time to heal, as left untreated they can cause worse damage to the tendons.

The operation to cut the ligament was discussed originally, however, my vet has not mentioned again and I don't think it will be a route we will go down this time, unless she breaks down again.

If she comes back to work in August, she will have been off 9 months. My vet is "hopeful" that she will come back to some sort of work, just not quite sure what at the moment.

Hope the prognosis for your horse isn't quite so long!!!

 

[star]

my horse was lame in trot when he did his annular ligaments, but he damaged both, left worse than right - if he'd only done the left he would have looked more lame, but he was lame on the right as well, so although obviously lame, was lame in both hindlegs.

he had really swollen annular ligaments, but no heat and no swelling of the tendon sheath. i rested him for a couple of months on bute before getting him worked up because i was in the middle of my finals. then we scanned him, treated him with cartrophen and shockwave but he was still lame and getting gradually worse so he went to Newmarket and had them both cut. came slowly back into work, but 6mths later he re-damaged the left one in the field and was absolutely crippled. vet said only option to operate again - i said no as he was 21yrs old and just buted him and rested him. he's still very slightly lame in trot now, but paddock sound and living a happy retirement.

 

[showjump]

Thanks for the reply. I just have fingers crossed that its something else. I suppose he could of banged it or tweaked it?
Vet pincher tested and he was abit sore on one nail, dont suppose this could be it? Im am just so gutted, as most of last year he was out injured.

What extent does the damage have to be before surgery?

 

[millerj]

my sons pony club pony went slightly lame in sept - same as yours not hobbling lame just not quite right, wouldn't bring his leg all the way underneath him. I spent from Sept to Feb being told it was artheritis (pony is 12) he had x rays and a course of cartrafen with no improvment. At the beginning of Feb vet decided to do nerve blocks to see if fetlcok or hock. Thsi was at 3pm on a wed afternoon, went up to stables at 6am next morning to find completetly crippled pony!!

i emergancy vet visit later and an immediate referal to the hospital 2 hours away and my pony had to undergo 2 joint flushes over the space of 2 weeks as the blocks had hit the tendon sheath.

After 4 weeks in Oakham hospital vet said shall we find out what lameness was while he's here? at this point i had had enough and said yes. Took them 10 mins with scan to id what my vet could not do in 6 months!! my pony had a thickened annular ligament in one leg.

Operated on him, he spent 1 extra week in hospital

Then 10 days box rest until stiches came out

the 4 weeks box rest with dresing on for support

now in the middle of another 4 weeks of box rest with 5 mins allowed out per day. got to go back at end of may!!

it will be min of 6 months before he's back up and running to the point we had a new pony on monday.

Sorry very long!!

 

[star]

well, i only went for surgery as a complete last resort. it was that or have him PTS as he was really lame on it and just getting worse - i couldn't watch him in that much pain. even though he only came sound for 6mths i dont regret having the op done as he's now able to enjoy a comfy retirement. i dont think they have to be that bad before surgery though - it's quite a common option to take as the annular ligament doesn't heal very well - it doesn't have a good blood supply and often restricts the tendon sheath - it seems to respond well to surgery. i was told about 80% come sound afterwards and it's extremely rare for them to go lame again if they come sound (typical my horse had to be one of the rare ones!)

 

[Doublethyme]

On a positive note, my mare was trotted up for my barefoot trimmer this morning for the first time since she has been injured (we have avoided doing it for obvious reasons before this) and he was gobsmacked by how sound she looked - in fact much sounder than she did pre injury!! (which does make me wonder if we had something going on for a lot longer).

Like Star I will have the operation done on my mare as a last resort, whilst I have mostly heard good things about it, I do know of one horse who was PTS after having it done as he had complications (I don't know the full story but will find out before I even consider it, particularly as it was with the same vets as mine - may even ask for a referral to Liphook who I know have a brilliant record for this operation).