Bone cyst in stifle

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Marigold4

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My rising 10 year old gelding has just been x-rayed and a "quite big" cyst has been found in one stifle, possibly something odd in the other stifle - x-rays sent to surgeon for expert opinion. Both joints will be scanned next week to see what else is going on in the joint. He's been a real puzzle to ride as he has wanted to be on his forehand and not engage behind, finding canter really hard - now we know why. Poor chap. Thankfully I've not pushed him in all these years of trying to work him out - just light hacking and schooling. It came to light when he went to a pro for a few weeks, as I have no facilities at home to ride in winter, and she asked a little more of him.

I'm thinking we retire him now and hope he is OK as a field companion but pro thinks there are things we could do - steroid injections etc - and we should keep working him to keep him strong. He's home now and I'm definitely not doing anything with him until we know if anything else is going on in the joint, but does anyone have any experience of a horse able to comfortably carry on with a bone cyst with minimally invasive treatment? The info I have found so far is not encouraging.
 
I am really sorry to hear this, it’s a bit bloomin heart breaking. Honestly I think you have to wait for the experts to advise you about the way forward. I don’t have experience of this exact situation but know about waiting and uncertainty and wanted to send you a hug.
 
Midlifecrisis said:
I am really sorry to hear this, it’s a bit bloomin heart breaking. Honestly I think you have to wait for the experts to advise you about the way forward. I don’t have experience of this exact situation but know about waiting and uncertainty and wanted to send you a hug.
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Thanks for replying and the "hug". I was sort of coming to the conclusion I should stop riding him before the diagnosis. He's been telling me for so long that he finds it hard. Sending him to the pro was a last-ditch attempt to either get him going or stop. So I was mentally prepared to retire him anyway and TBH riding him wasn't much fun. He wasn't lame as such just telling me it was all really difficult for him. He is a lovely boy and an easy horse to keep, so as long as we can keep him comfortable, he can just look pretty in the field. Think that's the end of riding for me though.
 
Sorry to read this. You've said minimally invasive treatment so rest and injections may help but only surgery I believe would be the surest option to return to full work. I guess it depends on what is found after further investigation.
HHO vibes for positive outcome.
 
Nicnac said:
Sorry to read this. You've said minimally invasive treatment so rest and injections may help but only surgery I believe would be the surest option to return to full work. I guess it depends on what is found after further investigation.
HHO vibes for positive outcome.
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Thanks for the vibes. It's horrible waiting ...
 
Sorry to hear this, mine with bone cyst did not end well. It depends of its location and if it connects to the joint space and cartilage. Some are incidental findings and dont cause an issue, but some just hurt with bone pain and they cant tell us.
 
angel7 said:
Sorry to hear this, mine with bone cyst did not end well. It depends of its location and if it connects to the joint space and cartilage. Some are incidental findings and dont cause an issue, but some just hurt with bone pain and they cant tell us.
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Thanks for replying. I'm really sorry about your horse. I heard from the surgeon tonight and my horse's cyst is "impressively large" and connected to the joint. He seems pretty happy in the field and stable though. His ridden lameness was very subtle. We await the scans.
 
UPDATE: So we've had the scans and in fact there is little evidence of arthritis or cartilage damage - so that's good. The joint is much smaller on the side with the bone cyst (less joint fluid) but no one (except me!) thinks that's an issue. We've now had several different vet opinions. First surgeon (Liphook) recommended surgery and placing a screw which would encourage the bone cyst to fill itself in. Having researched this, it seems this surgery is relatively new and seems to have been carried out on young racehorses who have "active" bones (my boy is 10). So I've said a hard NO to that idea! Other surgeon at Newmarket who saw the scans as well as x-rays thinks that because of his age there's not much point in surgery of any kind and that minimally invasive is the way to go with a steroid injection. Two other vets (not surgeons): one thinks bone cysts can be incidental; other vet thinks bone cysts that don't cause problems are few and far between. Second vet thinks tildren or osphos would be a good idea to add in to the mix; Newmarket surgeon thinks tildren and osphos not likely to do much.

We're going to go for the steroid injection and see how he goes.
 
Marigold4 said:
UPDATE: So we've had the scans and in fact there is little evidence of arthritis or cartilage damage - so that's good. The joint is much smaller on the side with the bone cyst (less joint fluid) but no one (except me!) thinks that's an issue. We've now had several different vet opinions. First surgeon (Liphook) recommended surgery and placing a screw which would encourage the bone cyst to fill itself in. Having researched this, it seems this surgery is relatively new and seems to have been carried out on young racehorses who have "active" bones (my boy is 10). So I've said a hard NO to that idea! Other surgeon at Newmarket who saw the scans as well as x-rays thinks that because of his age there's not much point in surgery of any kind and that minimally invasive is the way to go with a steroid injection. Two other vets (not surgeons): one thinks bone cysts can be incidental; other vet thinks bone cysts that don't cause problems are few and far between. Second vet thinks tildren or osphos would be a good idea to add in to the mix; Newmarket surgeon thinks tildren and osphos not likely to do much.

We're going to go for the steroid injection and see how he goes.
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Just been reading and wanted to wish you good luck for your boy ❤️
 
Traks said:
Just been reading and wanted to wish you good luck for your boy ❤️
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Thanks - it's been something of a shock really. His difficulties were quite subtle so the vet's findings were unexpected to say the least. He's a lovely boy though, and no trouble.
 
My horse had a bone cyst in the shoulder, very rare. Tried steroids which didn't work and operated ito clean it up. This was 2012 so older approaches. I've also heard of surgery where they put in bio absorbable fillers not a screw which has had a very good success rate but may not be suitable for a stifle. Too late for us thoug. Mine didn't come sound enough to ride but was a field ornament for 7 years with some but in the last few years to keep him comfortable.
 
criso said:
My horse had a bone cyst in the shoulder, very rare. Tried steroids which didn't work and operated ito clean it up. This was 2012 so older approaches. I've also heard of surgery where they put in bio absorbable fillers not a screw which has had a very good success rate but may not be suitable for a stifle. Too late for us thoug. Mine didn't come sound enough to ride but was a field ornament for 7 years with some but in the last few years to keep him comfortable.
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Thanks - that's interesting to note. I'm not convinced that any of the surgeries are any good for an older horse and/or have long-term success. Most seem to have been carried out on young racehorses to keep them racing but there doesn't seem to be much/any info on how they are doing in 3/4/5 years' time. I've read around extensively and can't find anyone saying - yay, that surgery was brilliant. I have mostly come across people who are saying tried the surgery, it didn't work, the horse is retired/pts. I'm lucky in that my horse doesn't seem that uncomfortable (some can be very lame, I believe). You wouldn't notice anything watching him in the field. He just finds it difficult to collect and come off his forehand. Maybe he is just very stoic, but he doesn't seem that type - quite the opposite!
 
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