bone scanning done- inconclusive- poss ligament damage

[clairefeekerry1]

my horse went for bone scanning today. previous x rays have proved clear. no response to nerve blocking from fetlock down. he went to a specialist to get the bone scanning done and a dignosis. the specilaist has come back and said the bone scan is pretty much clear. the only area of concern is around the fetlock of the leg he is lame on. he said there seems to be a thickening of the bone which to him indicates suspensory ligament damage. he's going to do some more nerve blocking a bit further up and some other tests but he doesnt think its too serious and with a bit of rest should return to full work. i've searched on the internet and some of the responses look very serious. what are your thoughts/expierances?

 

[ImogenBurrows]

my horse went for bone scanning today. previous x rays have proved clear. no response to nerve blocking from fetlock down. he went to a specialist to get the bone scanning done and a dignosis. the specilaist has come back and said the bone scan is pretty much clear. the only area of concern is around the fetlock of the leg he is lame on. he said there seems to be a thickening of the bone which to him indicates suspensory ligament damage. he's going to do some more nerve blocking a bit further up and some other tests but he doesnt think its too serious and with a bit of rest should return to full work. i've searched on the internet and some of the responses look very serious. what are your thoughts/expierances?

This seems a bit odd to me.

Speaking from experience I try to block the whole limb prior to resorting to bone scans unless I really cannot block the horse for safety reasons. Once the block localises the lameness then I use ultrasound and x-ray, if no joy then bone scan might be next.

If you google suspensory ligament desmitis you will get hits from "no problem" to "catastrophic"! The thing is nothing will make much sense until you get a diagnosis. I would wait until you get the lameness actually localised with blocks, then the injury diagnosed on the scan before trying to prognosticate.

Best of luck
Imogen

 

[clairefeekerry1]

This seems a bit odd to me.

Speaking from experience I try to block the whole limb prior to resorting to bone scans unless I really cannot block the horse for safety reasons. Once the block localises the lameness then I use ultrasound and x-ray, if no joy then bone scan might be next.

If you google suspensory ligament desmitis you will get hits from "no problem" to "catastrophic"! The thing is nothing will make much sense until you get a diagnosis. I would wait until you get the lameness actually localised with blocks, then the injury diagnosed on the scan before trying to prognosticate.

Best of luck
Imogen

hi

i'm a little annoyed as i feel they should have blocked the whole leg too, however my vets were more lets send for a bone scan to see where the problem is. the specilist i was reffered too said he was going to do the further nerve blocks which makes me think if i had gone to them first i probably would never need a bone scan. it seems my vets have done it the worng way round

 

[ImogenBurrows]

hi

i'm a little annoyed as i feel they should have blocked the whole leg too, however my vets were more lets send for a bone scan to see where the problem is. the specilist i was reffered too said he was going to do the further nerve blocks which makes me think if i had gone to them first i probably would never need a bone scan. it seems my vets have done it the worng way round

It's hard to know without speaking to them. If your own vet felt stumped, then they did the right thing to ask for help and get a specialist involved. There may well have been a logical reason for your vets decision, so try not to be too upset, it'd be much worse if they'd bimbled on aimlessly without doing something proactive!

I'm not sure it'd be the way I'd chose, but it's often very easy looking in without all the facts! The best thing to do IMO is to keep all the lines of communication open with your vets and the specialist too...it'd the best way of getting right into the picture!

Good luck
Imogen

 

[air78]

My vet has just refered a horse which is slightly lame for a bone scan, as it's not obvious where the problem is. He said they could go on forever with nerve blocks etc and be none the wiser, but hopefully the bone scan would narrow things down, ready for further investigation. This makes sense to me?