Arthroscopy not worked, now what?

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jcneill

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My 10 year old boy had arthroscopy on his hind fetlock joint in January to remove some damaged cartledge. I followed all the advice re his recovery and he also had the IRAP therapy, but when he was assessed last month he is still 3/5 lame. He had steriod injected into his joint 2 weeks ago but its not made any difference. His fetlock is still quite fluidy and warm. He's on daily bute at the moment but is uncomfortable in anything other than walk. My vet says don't loose hope as it can take about 6 months for full recovery, but surely he should be a bit better by now? The vet wants to re-xray but theres not much money left for more treatment so i don't really see the point. There has also been talk of leaving him for 12 months to see what happens. Has anyone had experience of anything similar or say anything to give me some hope. He is the kind of horse you come across once in a lifetime. Does anything you ask of him and has manners to die for. I think I am preparing myself to make the hardest decision but just thought i'd post on here first in case im giving up to soon.
Many thanks
 
Sorry your horse hasnt come right at the moment after the treatment. If you dont have much Insurance money left and have pretty much exhausted the treatment side then I would personally turn away in a field 24/7 and let Dr Green take over. Rest is sometimes the only way to go, my mare is having a year off now. She tore her DDFT 2 years ago from which she fully recovered. Unfortunately her other front leg took a lot of the strain when she was lame and in March she ran round the field and injured this one. Not too badly I may add but she was lame and has just come off box rest after a few weeks. I have decided to give her time off to rest and heal at leisure and we will see what next year brings.

Hope your horse recovers.
 
I've tried him in a small paddock but he's unhappy and spends his time imagining things to spook at and racing round. Thanks anyway
 
if you've tried everything possible that has been suggested and no improvement then i'd chuck him out for 12 months and see what happens.
your situation sounds similar to mine. we've spent 5k on diagnostics and no further forward really. no treatment suggestions have worked to date and he's such a sweet boy i'm not willing to put him through anymore poking, prodding ops or injections so he's getting turned out for 12-15 months and see what happens.
 
i bought a gorgeous tb cross irish back in june and three weeks later he suffered a stifle injury in the field. Two weeks later he had arthroscopy at Liphook equine hospital where they removed the damage from two fractures.They then advised 4 weeks box rest followed by 12 weeks reduced paddock turn out. 3 months later he is still very lame in walk and is completely useless without bute. he was 3/10 lame before and I would say he is about the same.

however he has a "osteochondal fragment of the lateral trochlear ridge" basically a fragment of bone is wedged in the tendon and I believe that this is the cause for no improvement. Now they said that it would do more damage than good to remove it, so they've left it in there. this however i believe is the causation of his lameness.

I have no idea what to do as they won't take it out, i completely feel your frustration! I bought the most beautiful 3 year old that moves nicer than any warmblood i've seen, fantastic jump and more than anything he's the sweetest and most intelligent horse I've had. He is so good being on box rest even though he's bored out of his mind and I simply can't bear the though of him being put down, which is why we've gone through the pain of insurance etc.

My main concern is that the joint will heal and come sound but the fragment of bone in his tendon will alway be the cause of the lameness and its uneconomical to spend all this time and money nurturing a horse that will never come sound. I find that getting a straight answer out of the vets is also just as frustrating as watching my horse suffer.

my advice, if you believe that the horse is worth the input, then give it your best shot. If not, cut your loses and get loss of use.. its a horrible predicament to be in but unfortunately thats horses for you. We've all got horror stories!

please let me know how your getting on, i would love to hear a success story... I'm still searching for one!
 
How about asking for a second opinion? If you still have insurance it may cover this- you never know? Google vets that have maybe specialised in the injury... or get the GB team vet that looks after our top eventers or showjumpers? Good luck.
 
I would chuck him out with some sane sensible company for 12 months and let mother nature and Dr Green do their bit... mabe find someone with an oldie or two that he can go in with for his re-hab. I personally would visit him to do the bare minimum in terms of care - don't even look at how lame / sound he is until a year is up. You only torture yourself.
 
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