Haematoma

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SnowandSunshine

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Anyone have any experience of large haematomas? About 2 weeks ago my my gelding got a huge swelling (about 25cm across) on his 'inner thigh' area. The general concensus was it was probably a really bad reaction to a fly bite or sting. After 4 days it was about half the size but still there and painful so had the vet look at it.
She said it was probably a haematoma, where he had been kicked higher up the leg and drained down to this area. She put him on bute for a few days.

However week and half on and its still not really improved since vet saw it & he's still quite sore. She said she was surprised there was not an improvement by now.

Just wondered if anyone knew how long it takes for the soreness to go and the swelling to go down?
 
are you walking him out or do anything like that or is he box bound?
with the worst haematomas i've seen we've walked them - no matter how lame they are - and even if they can only hobble - they hobble at their pace for a short amount of time. It gets the blood circulating and the immune system and lymphatic system doing what it does, with a mixture of cold hosing and compression bandaging (careully) where possible.
 
It sounds like it would be good to know where the root of the problem is. IE was the horse kicked higher up and the fluid has dropped? Or is the fluid sitting on the spot where the problem is? If you knew where the problem is, you could get a physio to treat it (H-wave or laser??) if it is a bruise.

It may be just a matter of patience, I have one with a massive haematoma on the side of his neck (crashed into a tree while making merry in the garden -
blush.gif
). There is a load of fluid hanging between his front legs, really attractive, and a hard lump on the side of his neck where he has torn the muscle. Vet says it's just a matter of time . . .
 
Thanks guys. He lives out 24/7 and vet said to leave him there - he is not that lame just obviously sore. Re: how it came about, there was a kick type mark further up his leg so the vet could be either that or he had been hooling around and done the splits.

I did a bit of googling and some old posts seem to suggest it might take 4-6 weeks before it goes. In fact seems to have gone down a bit tonight perhaps I just need to be patient!
 
Big haematomas do take time to disappear alexe. The stagnant reservoir of blood needs to slowly be re-absorbed by the body. If there's still some healing going on at the higher up site of the original injury, then the haemotoma will be constantly "topped up" so won't be able to resolve until the injury site is fully healed. My understanding is that gentle massage can help but check with your vet.
 
my boy got kicked witch caused i heamotomea si i left it but it got bigger so i called vets they came out and froze the area laced it then allowed it to drain and put him on pain killers and anti b,s!
 
one of my girls has a haematoma between her front legs, vet came on monday and checked it and drained it with a needle (under sedation), and gave her antibiotics. i'd speak to your vet about that if you are still worried. otherwise, they do dissipate eventually, IME.
 
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