Hind suspensory ligament surgery - any experiences?

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Dexydoodle

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Long story short, it looks as though my mare is going to be going for surgery on her hind suspensory ligaments (in both legs) in a couple of weeks - I think they cut the nerves. Has anyone got experience of recovery in this? Know its very much each horse is an individual but would love some experiences - good or bad. Basically the situation at the moment is do the surgery or retire her so surgery is the choice!
 
Do you mean that your horse has PSD? If so, one of mine had this surgery last Wednesday. No idea how it went as it will be 3 months before his legs are scanned.

I would do a search of PSD on here as this is quite common; in my boy's case he is to have 2 weeks strict box rest (no movement at all) and bandaging every 2 days, 2 weeks box rest where you can tie up to muck out, then 2 weeks in hand grazing, then 4 weeks play pen turnout, then 4 weeks normal turnout (but the vets advise this should be a small paddock on their own as they dont want them running around) and then re-scan. Then they tell you where you go from there.

Good luck - its horrible. Did they tell you how much damage? Mine has moderate damage and it was very recent - he basically was fine one minute then came in hobbling from the field. Box rest and field rest did nothing. He was diagnosed a month later and then operated on a month afterwards. In the meantime I let him have normal turnout as was advised he couldnt damage it any more and he was looking at being in for a long time (I dont think he will be sensible in a play pen therefore I would prefer to continue box resting + in hand grazing for 2 months) but he was very very uncomfortable and wanted to be in (this from a horse who lives out 24/7). If we didnt have the op he would have been PTS as he was absolutely miserable being stuck in but he was in so much pain hobbling about in the field; there is no way he would have been able to cope with the mud in winter.
 
They haven't told me to be honest - this is the final step after millions of investigations since Christmas. She got kicked in the field, right down to the tendon (thankfully didn't damage it), and has never come sound since, identified arthritis in her hocks, were medicated, brought her sound for about 8 weeks and then things started going wrong again. She's been in hospital for scans etc and they did blocks in her legs and the ones into the suspensory ligaments brought her sound. Don't know if its PSD. They were saying 6 weeks box rest after surgery and just trying to get experiences of recovery although I know they're all different!
 
Sorry to hear this.

My first horse had chronic damage to both rear suspensory ligaments.

I bought her just backed at three and a half. She was on/off lame for a year. Took her to Sue Dyson at the AHT for a full lameness work up. Sadly the damage was too severe and I had her out to sleep almost a year to the day I got her.

You need to do some research on the operation. Search on here for PSD and on the Internet. I did a lot at the time. Decided against the operation, that was before I found out she was too far gone for it.

I hope all works out well for yours m'duck.
 
I'm so confused now! The vets have said basically that surgery is the only option left to us - we've already gone down the conservative route of rest albeit for different reasons. She's my perfect horse she really is but doing some reading last night it looks as though a lot of people think PSD is a symptom of something else so we could 'solve' that and have issues elsewhere? Think lack of sleep is mushing my brain!
 
My boy has PSD both hinds but fingers crossed has come sound after recent shockwave treatment. I get the impression from my vet though that he thinks its inevitable he'll be lame again at some point and has suggested the surgery. I'm extremely reluctant to put him through it but your situation sounds different to mine. I know me telling you this isn't helpful but just wanted to say I share your worries! Perhaps talk to vet and make sure you get all your questions answered about exactly why this surgery is right for your specific horse. And best of luck.
 
I do understand from some quite long chats with the vet why there are no other options available to us, just hoping for some good/ bad experiences with recovery from the surgery! Its just a bit daunting, never thought i'd be in this position :(
 
Inhad snow ex racer that had had surgery. No one could get home sound so he was given to me as a project. As it turned oUt my vet had.originally treated him so I also got s full history from start of issues. He had Box rest and shockwave therapy first which didn't work.
What I actuallying found out was he had a.long standing and undiagnosed rotated pelvis and damaged sacrilliac joint. Maybe if this had been delt with first then it would have resolved the ligament problem.

He came sound after treatment. But he then had other digestive/metabolic issues :-(
 
D'sMum said:
Long story short, it looks as though my mare is going to be going for surgery on her hind suspensory ligaments (in both legs) in a couple of weeks - I think they cut the nerves. Has anyone got experience of recovery in this? Know its very much each horse is an individual but would love some experiences - good or bad. Basically the situation at the moment is do the surgery or retire her so surgery is the choice!
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2 horses at the yard had this, one is back to just hacking but she has back problems aswell, the other horse is back to his ordinary self! I think it does depend on individual horses but like i said, one of the horses, it's like he never had it done! Hope this helps :)
 
My horse was diagnosed with PSD in one hind after I had had him for a few months, we tried rest and shockwave and initially it looked as if he had come sound but after coming back into work he became unlevel again so we decided to have the surgery last summer, I was a bit concerned about having the surgery as he is a big 17hh hunter but it all went fine. We did similar rehab to what you are planning but took my time bringing him back into work and then became pregnant so he had almost a year just walking on gentle hacks. He has now started to come back into proper work and feels really good fingers crossed!
 
There is a discussion group on facebook called PSD discussion group, search for the group and then ask to join.


Its a very useful source of informtion and you can ask questions and get answers from people who have gone the surgery route or those how have opted for an alternative treatment. It might take some time to trawl through the whole page but worth it to see what others have done and success stories from both sides.

Good luck.
 
Thats really useful, thank you. Alternative treatments aren't really an option so its surgery with a chance of recovery or retire now. Off camping for a few days now so plenty of time to ponder. I'm leaning towards surgery as at least there's a chance of making her more comfortable and possibly having a ridden life after - she's only 14 so even if I can get her good enough to hack its better than retiring her I think.
 
My loan horse has surgery on both hind suspensorys a few years a go. Don't know that much but they were x rayed about a month ago and he has fully recovered and you wouldn't know that he had damaged them.
 
D'sMum said:
I'm so confused now! The vets have said basically that surgery is the only option left to us - we've already gone down the conservative route of rest albeit for different reasons. She's my perfect horse she really is but doing some reading last night it looks as though a lot of people think PSD is a symptom of something else so we could 'solve' that and have issues elsewhere? Think lack of sleep is mushing my brain!
Click to expand...

Not sure where you are up to with insurance etc i.e. getting all treatment in within a year.

But if time is on your side, it may be worth doing your own research first before heading to surgery i.e.it doesn't sound as though you have been fully informed by your vet because you are unsure whether your horse has PSD and what is fully involved with the surgery and that there are cases where the nerve has grown back after surgery- have they discussed this with you?

Yes some people think PSD is a secondary issue and you will need to find the route cause in order to fix the problem, others do not. But it is up to you to make the right choice for your horse armed with as much knowledge as you can gather on the subject. If it is not life threatening condition at the moment dont be hurried into surgery with out doing some research first.

Good luck.
 
Hi My horse had the surgery about 10 years ago.
The surgery itself was straightforward for him and healed really well, scarring is absoloutely minimum, he is black and has a few white hairs about the incision area, and you can see the scars if he is totally clipped.
He has competed for many years in dressage showing and some small jumping (not because he can't because I won't.)
Interestingly I have had to have his back done very regularly to keep his sacroiliac area 'right'
He has never been lame lame, but he is currently off work as he has tweaked his check ligament in his front get and I notice he is dragging his back toes a bit, but he has had 10 years of competing time in the intervening years and 2 weeks before the check ligament injury I took him to a local show and he won his class and the championship and the week before took him to a dressage where he had a first and a second and won loads of prizes.

After his surgery the vet advised me not to give him time off work to try and keep him as supple as possible.
His care plan was not as extensive as these listed above either.

We tried steroid injections, rest, and shockwave before we got to the point of surgery.
Do I regret it with my horse, not for a moment.
 
D'sMum said:
I do understand from some quite long chats with the vet why there are no other options available to us, just hoping for some good/ bad experiences with recovery from the surgery! Its just a bit daunting, never thought i'd be in this position :(
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It is going to depend on the horse and how you rehab it after the surgery.

If this is your horse of a life time, then I would want to know that I had exhausted every possible avenue. My boy is 13 and Sue Dyson did not think his age was an issue. I had to retire my "horse of a life time" at 6, so age is all relative.

You have to do what is right. I agonised over this decision but in my case it was surgery or PTS as he could not have coped; I felt he deserved a chance.

Good luck - it is horrible, least of all because they have to have a GA. But I went up to see mine about 3 days after the surgery and he was bright as a button and screaming his head off because he wanted to come home. We wont know anything until he is rescanned so now we are just concentrating on the protocol set for him.
 
I have a horse with PSD. She was diagnosed with it at hospital last October along with bilateral spavin, navicular and arthritis of the fetlock. I didn't choose the surgery as this horse had already had two general anaesthetics earlier that year for unrelated issues and I wasn't prepared to put her through it along with all the related box rest and rehab. She is now sound and we hack out and are just starting to do a little schooling - walk and trot only. I am aware that it may not last forever and that if she goes lame again the surgery may be an option, but I would prefer not to, if I can avoid it.
Good luck with yours - I hope it goes well.
 
sorry just reread my thread and haven't made it very clear, did had rest after the surgery and small turnout area and light work ect as prescribed by specialist.
But once back sound the vet advised me not to give him time off!
phew surprised no one commented how strange that was!
 
Thanks for all the responses, had a long chat with the vet whilst I was away and have decided to go for the surgery. She had a lot of scans etc whilst she was in hospital before they identified the suspensory ligament issue, and they are confident there are no other issues in her back/ pelvis. Oh, and we discussed re nerve regrowth etc., but to me even if it helps for a little while its worth it - she's uncomfortable walking down the hill from the field and she has stopped trotting across the field as I move her grazing line - totally unlike her - so she's obviously uncomfortable in the field as well as being ridden.
 
Mine had surgery nearly 7 yrs ago now..she has since done aff. Dressage, sj & BE whereas she had just done her 1st intro beforehand as a 5/6 yo so from my experience it was a total success. Rehab was a pain agreed & you do need to do it thoroughly but insignificant in scheme of things. My mare has been 100% sound ever since.
 
Mine had the op last November and after being anal about getting the rehab right is better than ever! He's going BD and in 4 outings we are qualifed for Petplans and am going to the one at Arena UK in October.
 
It's good to see some positive outcomes. I will rehab slowly cos she's had most of this year off with various issues and even if she can just get back to hacking (thats nothing against people who only hack, its just i'd hoped to do some local stuff with her) i'll be happy, i'd rather have that and give up the rest of it than have nothing. If it doesn't work she'll be a large cuddly field ornament but its good to see there can be a ridden future (vet had already said that but my brain can't help but worry after the last few months!)
 
Hi! Yes my big boy went to Sue Dyson with severe PSD in both hinds - off-hind being worse. We initially went through the shock wave treatment and 6 months box rest with walking every day - and yes he became sound enough to compete to BD elementary before breaking down again. The second time with Sue we decided to go down the de-nerving op route - and I was aware that with some horses the nerve endings can regrow - sometimes as quickly as within 12 months. It's a risk. I brought him very slowly back into work (he also had to undergo another 6 months box rest and walking for another issue at the time) but he wasn't right and 12 months later I actually turned him away for 14 months and really didn't think I would be able to ride him again. However he then decided that he would like to do something so I started to gently hack him - only in walk. Five years down the line he is more or less sound in a straight line in trot and out hacking I let him trot when he wants to (but not on the roads or hard ground!), and at the moment he's storming! I have to be careful not to overdo it and notice that when he gets tired he scuffs his off-hind and this shoe will wear away to nothing on the outside as he plaits.

Would I do the operation again? Yes - definitely! At AHT, Sue and the staff are wonderful - I cannot praise them enough! If your horse has already gone through a lot of the treatments for PSD then he will cope with this operation fine! If it's a choice between having a horse who's happy with life and keen to go out and about - or having a bored field ornament then I know what I would do!
 
Going for the surgery, will stick with the rehab, and what happens happens I guess. I feel that i've got to give it a shot at least. So fingers crossed now
 
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Mine went from being a shy, introverted soul to be a happy go luck chap, that loves being worked. It took a lot of soul searching to go for the op but I am so glad we did, we even got an interview with H and H and 'back from the brink' bit in the mag when he went out and won first time affilliated!
 
My mare had a neurectomy and fasciotomy approx 9 years ago on both hinds. I took the recovery v slowly and have never jumped since. I am happy for her to be a happy hack although vets were confident about her recovery. i used a good joint supplement,she is now 20 and looks wonderful. She had secondary back pain but now my mctimony lady says her back is fab for her age and she is level straight and sound. I am cautious with her and would never trot on roads and we have spent the last few years rebalancing her feet as think this was the underlying problem. good luck whatever you choose. I bought her as my future dressage horse but still love her to bits...
 
I bought mine less than 2 years ago and being honest, I will be gutted if she ends up 'just' as a hack as I completely lost my confidence on my last share horse and was close to giving up completely, she has restored my confidence and some and wanted to go and do local level comps on her - ODEs, hunter trials etc. So yes i'll be gutted to give all that up, but i'd rather be able to hack (and we do have lovely hacking) than nothing, and even if it turns out she has to be a field ornament, thats what she'll be. Just trying to take each day as it comes now
 
A friend's mare had the op about 3 months ago now. After box rest then small paddock for 6 weeks vet came and assessed her last week and she's sound :) Can now be riddedn in walk for 15 minutes every other day for a week then build up each week by 5 minutes until up to an hour then she can introduce some trot.

There's someone on here who's horse is back competing after the op and actually featured in H&H recently. Just seen it's Laafet and she's responded to your post
 
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