Carpal sheath lameness - help :(

C

Cassabelle

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I bought a lovely little 3 year old mare from
Ireland in July 2023, vetted perfect and in January 2024 out of the blue she was fairly lame on the near fore. After investigation from my local vet he diagnosed her with OCD in the elbow and it was ‘career ending’. I was devastated.

I spoke with a few vets and they said how rare OCD in the elbow is so I decided to opt for a 2nd opinion which thankfully confirmed it was not OCD in the elbow, but she did have a minor osteochondroma in the carpal sheath digging into a ligament. When blocked in this area there was a significant improvement. So I opted for the operation, box rested, slow rehab using treadmill, a steroid injection into the area to aid with healing, then given the all clear she came home. A few months after she started going lame again, same leg same symptoms.

We went back to Edinburgh and decided to do another steroid injection and turned away. Steroid injection works fab, but doesn’t last overly long 2.5/3 months.


December 2024 and we are back to square one. Vet advised trying Arthramid, however this made her even worse lameness wise and was told it is most likely a flare up.

We opted to MRI the area in question as it blocks so well, however the MRI hasn’t really shown very much in the area so really I am looking at putting her to sleep which is absolutely killing me as she is only 4 years old and only been very lightly backed in walk only!

Does anyone have any advice, or been through anything similar? I had hoped the MRI would give us answers 😢
 
JBM said:
So has the osteochondroma been removed? What about any damaged tissue?
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Sorry I should have said the osteochondroma was removed in the operation in April last year, and the damage to the DDFT was mild and did not require any debridement.

She is currently at Dick vets where they have actually ‘started again’ to get a fresh pair of eyes in case something obvious is being missed. They are trying their best I take my hat off to them. She is 3/5 lame.

Last week the carpal sheath was blocked, which resulted in a 50% improvement. They then blocked further up of the median and ulnar which resulted in a 75% improvement. However today when they blocked the capital sheath 0% improvement. It’s absolutely bizarre.
 
Midlifecrisis said:
I wondered if the tumour has returned, the Dick vets are top of their game have they exhausted their bag of tricks? Can the vets a Weipers suggest anything? It does
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Midlifecrisis said:
I wondered if the tumour has returned, the Dick vets are top of their game have they exhausted their bag of tricks? Can the vets a Weipers suggest anything? It does seem a shame.
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That’s exactly what I thought too but further X-rays / MRI shows no sign of tumour (although it would have been far easier if it had been that!) dick vets really have been amazing, 4 vets are scratching their heads at this case
 
I do feel for you my mare has been lame since last September and there has been much to ing and fro ing between my vets and a respected equine hospital but she still isn’t fixed…but on Thursday I took her a 100 miles to a recommended vet who said it’s not hip ( all insurance money spent on hip treatment) but stifle and hock problem so he injected a new drug whose name escapes me and instructed me to get on and ride her in walk for 20 mins every day to build muscle ( other vets weren’t overly happy I’ve insisted on turn out every day let alone proper exercise). I was worried I’d have a field ornament but I’m told nope you ll have a properly rideable mare back by end of summer.

I truly hope someone has a lightbulb moment for you.
 
Midlifecrisis said:
I do feel for you my mare has been lame since last September and there has been much to ing and fro ing between my vets and a respected equine hospital but she still isn’t fixed…but on Thursday I took her a 100 miles to a recommended vet who said it’s not hip ( all insurance money spent on hip treatment) but stifle and hock problem so he injected a new drug whose name escapes me and instructed me to get on and ride her in walk for 20 mins every day to build muscle ( other vets weren’t overly happy I’ve insisted on turn out every day let alone proper exercise). I was worried I’d have a field ornament but I’m told nope you ll have a properly rideable mare back by end of summer.

I truly hope someone has a lightbulb moment for you.
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You sound like you have been through the mill too. Keep us posted, have you got a thread on this?

It’s just soul destroying, and like you I am wayyy past the insurance money. But I don’t even care I just want my pony fixed
 
No I haven’t got a thread about it, I tend to post any stories when they reach their final destination and I have a clear process/resolution to report. So I may post a more full report in a few months time when I can either say hurray we re fixed or oops I’ve got a field ornament lol.
 
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