Has this happened to anyone else?

[Jackster]

Jack was diagnosed as having a ruptured sinus, he kept getting loads of attractive green snot coming out the left nostrel, but not the right.
Yesterday he had an opperation to drain the pus etc, he has now got a hole (about the size of a 10p piece) with a tube coming out so they can keep flushing out his sinus. Quite a shock when i went to see him after the opp, probably looks alot worse.
Has this happened to anyone else, if so how long did it take for your horse to recover? Did the hole heal up quickly?

 

[Sparklet]

My horse has a similar rig up when she had a couple of teeth removed. They go through the sinus and they found a cyst in there which fortunately had not ruptured. She was fine after it was removed and it healed quickly with no aftereffects.

 

[weetmanswagon]

Don't worry - it's alot worse than it looks !!!
I think my horse had the same op as yours.
Basically, the tube was removed and the hole plugged with sterile swabs which I removed twice a day to flush through the sinus. The flushing was a bit difficult at first as his face was sore and swollen from the op but once the swelling had gone down, it fairly easy to do. I just made up the solution - think it was capfull of iodine and gallon of warm water in one of those pump spraying things from a garden centre - pull out the swab and push in the tube from the pump (slightly gruesome if some gunge came out on the swab and his bone started to grow back and I had to sort of break through it) and then pump the solution through the hole in his face. Initially, it kept coming back up due to the swelling, but once that went down it went straight through the sinus cavity and out of his nostril. With it being warm water, he actually started enjoying it and I could do it with him tied up. Anyway, pump through the gallon of solution and make a cone shape from the swabs and plug the hole. Easy !
I did this twice a day for a month and then once a day for 2 weeks and then took the swab out to let it heal over, which took about 2 weeks. There's absolutely no sign of the hole on his face and you'd never know.
Good luck with your horse

 

[Jackster]

OMG, that sounds horrible, i am so bad when it comes to these sort of things. Was nearly sick when i saw the tube coming out the side of his head. How long was your horse out of work?

 

[weetmanswagon]

About 6 weeks and then he made a full recovery.
It was pretty awful at first, pulling the gunky swab out and pushing the tube through the hole in his face but then you sort of get used to it and if doesn't seem that bad !
I think he was only in hospital for about 3 or 4 days (they twitched him to flush it out but I had husband hanging on lead rope) and then he came home and I looked after him
You'll be fine

 

[Worried1]

Please don't worry my horse Trooper had impacted sinuses and underwent the same procedure twice! It is not very nice to look at and having to flush it out with a garden pressure hose wasn't very nice either!
He was a fantastic patient though and although he didn't look his usual handsome self he coped amazingly well throughout the whole episode.
Eventually the hole closes to a dot which you can't see and can only just feel it if you prod.
Please PM me if you want to discuss it in more detail.

 

[Jackster]

I'm sure i will be fine with it all, just such a shame all this happening. He was going so well, really fit and just getting excited about all the summer shows. So gutted. I feel like i'm being so selfish, just thinking about when i can ride again. But obviously his health is the most important thing.
Thanks so much for you help/advise. I'll keep you posted.

 

[weetmanswagon]

I would discuss riding with your vet - IMHO there shouldn't be that much to stop you from riding once your horse is over the op and he's not sore on his face so long as your tack doesn't interfere with the plug. Maybe try riding once the plug is removed and the hole is starting to heal over - 4 weeks ???

 

[polyphonic]

you need any help with ANY thing you can always give sam and me a shout hun
xxx

 

[Louby]

Hiya, my horse had this done too in both the top sinus and the sinus below his eye, at different times though! It was following a GA to remove his tooth. It does look awful at the time but both holes heeled great and unless you knew what had happened you wouldnt know anything had been done. He was a bit freaked out at first when we flushed it but he soon got used to it and never bothered at all.

 

[Jackster]

Went to visit Jack yesterday, he was so pleased to see me, was being so lovely (usually he's a cheeky monster), he probably thinks i've left him for being naughty!
I'm such a stress head but my OH sorted me out last night, so feeling a bit more positive this morning. Really don't cope well with drama!
Thanks everyone!

 

[nippytoady]

You sound like you have been lucky a horse where i work had a large amount of snot being produced throught he summer months and was tested for allergies and then they thought he must have a blockage in his sinuses somewhere.
he went for an operation and they drilled a hole in his head and looked around inside. the worst news was what we got, a tumour! unfortunately it is too far into his head next to an artery and they couldn't operate, he has had to be left through the winter to see if there was any changes.
One good thing, all winter he has been fine and a lady on the yard has been hacking him and schooling him few times a week and he's been okay, no snot or lumps of any kind. i'm just dreading the summer months as this is when it flares up and we think an allergy causes it to grow each year.
Don't know how many years he will have left but hopefully we will make the decision if it gets worse! its a shame cos he's such a lovely horse, very kind and homebred.

 

[Jackster]

Sorry to hear about your horse, i hope the summer doesn't bring problems for you.
I know i've been lucky, it could have been worse!