DDFT injuries & annular desmotomy

[tabithakat64]

Has any one had any experience of DDFT injury and/or had an annular desmotomy?
What was the treatment, rehabilitation, prognosis and eventual outcome please?

 

[Izzwizz]

Hi, my mare has recently suffered a tear in her DDFT and is off for her re-scan on friday. It was found via mri and is situated deep within her hoof so this was the only way it was found. Shes had double wedge shoes and was confined for a month in her stable, then single wedges with 3 x 5min walks per day, then egg bars and the walking increased to about 45 mins per day. We havent had experience of an annular desmotomy - what is it? Shes doing really well and i cant wait to find out how its healed. Vets seemed to think initially she will make a full recovery.

 

[star]

my old boy had a bilateral ALD in 2006. He didn't have damage to the DDFT though - he had primary annular ligament desmitis. It worked really well until he trod on a rut in a dried out muddy field and basically twisted his fetlock and set it all off again. He gradually came sound again and is ok now for light hacking and the odd veteran class, but no more than that as he's really not 100% and drags his toe on hard surfaces. He is 24 now though and also has had PSD back in 2002, so I think hsi back legs in general are a bit knackered!

 

[kizzywiz]

Hi, Kizzy had this exact operation in October 2009!! Ok, basically in 2007 she tore her manica flexoria & had a hugely thickened annular ligament, went in to Liphook where they removed the manica flexoria & cut the annular ligament, box rest for 6 weeks with in hand walking, then turn out in a round pen for 6 weeks with ridden walking, then normal turn out & build the work up. She had the tendon sheath remedicated at Liphook about 3 months after the initial op, recovered really well & competed successfully all last summer. Towards the end of the 2009 summer she got a windgall on left fore, vet had a look & we monitored it, but we suspected another thickened annular ligament. Very long story but she went in to Liphook to have the annular ligament sorted so she could rehab over the winter, David Lloyd decided to do both front legs together as he suspected she would suffer the same problem again, when he went in he found a small tear at the back of the pastern under the manica flexoria in her DDFT, about 1cm long but luckily longitudinal & not very deep. He debrided the tendon & did both front annular ligaments. She went off the my friend for 8 weeks box rest with in hand walking, then came home & went in round pen & should have begun ridden walking at 10 weeks post surgery, she wasn't sound enough though, so my own vet rescanned & medicated the tendon sheath to reduce the residual inflammation. I began ridden walking at 12 weeks, but she wasn't sound enough to begin the recommended trotting at 16 weeks as she twisted it in the field last week & was lame again. She has to do a further 2 weeks walking on bute following a Finodyne injection, if the inflammation stays down we can begin trotting. Both vets are confident she will fully recover, but it is a difficult injury & depends on the position & severity of the tear. It hasn't been as straightforward as the hind leg first time but that is because we have the tendon tear. Hope that helps, sorry its so long. PM me if you want any more help.

 

[Ludi-doodi]

[ QUOTE ]
We havent had experience of an annular desmotomy - what is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

A quick google says it's a thickening of the annular ligament - or desmitis !

 

[star]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
We havent had experience of an annular desmotomy - what is it?

[/ QUOTE ]

A quick google says it's a thickening of the annular ligament - or desmitis !

[/ QUOTE ]

no, an annular desmotomy is cutting of the annular ligament in surgery. annular ligament desmitis is inflammation of the annular ligament. desmitis is most def not the same as desmotomy.

 

[Oberon]

http://www.uknhcp.org/uknhcpresearch.html

 

[RachelB]

My mum's horse tore her DDFT below her navicular bone three years ago. A bad tear (2cm along the length of the tendon) in a bad place in a horse with bad conformation. To cut an incredibly long story short, I missed the crucial first two weeks of the injury, she was on box rest for five and a half months (diagnosed about half way through that) with progressive turnout after the first three months or so, then she was turned away for a year. She came back into work very slowly, walking in-hand for a month then walking under saddle for another two, then slowly building up short bursts of slow trot. She was in work for a year and was 99% sound - sound enough for the work she was doing (walking and trotting, mostly walking, for 30 minutes to an hour and a half about five times a week) but when it came down to it she was marginally lame. She had a blip or two but came sound after a few days/a week after each time and carried on without any more problems. I would have started cantering her but due to circumstances I had to turn her away for the winter. She's coming back into work again now and is marginally lame on bad ground (she always is when barefoot) but gets better the more work she does. She'll do about six months of walkiing and trotting and then I'll give her a bit of a canter and see how she is.
She'll never be the same again though, and she'll never be schooled again and never jumped. It is probably at least the second time she'd had the injury though, which makes the prognosis worse.
A combination of gradual increases in work, a very careful approach to what ground she is travelling across and at what speed, a fantastic farrier and a good diet (she is always on a hoof supplement to increase her rate of hoof growth to enable my farrier to keep her feet balanced, as her natural hoof growth rate is quite slow) keep her sound. She'll never be truly sound, but for a happy hack for my mum she is still ok.

 

[cathmax160407]

Hi my 12 year old IDxCob has this op after a tendon injury last summer. I choose to take it slow and steady with rehab. Op went well he coped well in box no infection or post op problems. He was sound within a couple of weeks of op. I chose to allow him to winter in a quiet home with after 12 weeks slow walking in hand.His turn out and walking increased until 6 months post op Feb 2010 with ridden walking to build up strength fitness. I supported him with immune supplement and tendon supplements in the view it can only help not harm and touch wood the recovery has been great with him giving all signs to a full return to work Xcountry jumping etc. I had read that a return to work quickly can add strain and show reoccurance so I chose the long haul which seems to be showing all the posiitve signs.