Horses hip pain/problem

He has had his SI medicated due to scar tissue but made no difference and nerve blocked up to and including his stifle but didn't block! The only thing we haven't had done is his hip!

We can either go for a bone scan or nerve block the hip but insurance money is getting short so knowing what to do!
 
Charlie! said:
He has had his SI medicated due to scar tissue but made no difference and nerve blocked up to and including his stifle but didn't block! The only thing we haven't had done is his hip!

We can either go for a bone scan or nerve block the hip but insurance money is getting short so knowing what to do!
Click to expand...
Ask the vet which is cheaper, a bone scan will be expensive I think but never blocks are usually not that expensive!

If you explain to the vet the insurance money is tight they will be able to advise what’s cheaper, my vet has always done the cheapest things then work up to more expensive if needed (and I have insurance l)
 
My mare had lameness work up ..so nerve blocks, scans and bone scan to rule out fractures etc. It was decided the on,y nerve block to make any difference to her lameness was the hip so she had steroid injection early December. I didn’t see appreciable improvement but vet said they did. Mare continued to be lame, as in uneven footfall in walk, and now the stifle/hock is being treated by another vet. The hip exploration used up nearly all the 5k insurance money…with a large vet conglomerate. Stifle/hock being treated by independent vet practice.

Edited to add…isotope for bone scans is in short supply and cost around £1400 if I recall correctly as they included a night stopover to bandage and rug mare before the scan. The scan showed small uptake in hip, hock and pedal bone which may indicate the start of arthritic change but not of enough note to cause concern…apparently. I think I’d opt for nerve blocking, vets struggled with my Friesian as the hip area is/was well covered.
 
Last edited:
Midlifecrisis said:
My mare had lameness work up ..so nerve blocks, scans and bone scan to rule out fractures etc. It was decided the on,y nerve block to make any difference to her lameness was the hip so she had steroid injection early December. I didn’t see appreciable improvement but vet said they did. Mare continued to be lame, as in uneven footfall in walk, and now the stifle/hock is being treated by another vet. The hip exploration used up nearly all the 5k insurance money…with a large vet conglomerate. Stifle/hock being treated by independent vet practice.

Edited to add…isotope for bone scans is in short supply and cost around £1400 if I recall correctly as they included a night stopover to bandage and rug mare before the scan. The scan showed small uptake in hip, hock and pedal bone which may indicate the start of arthritic change but not of enough note to cause concern…apparently. I think I’d opt for nerve blocking, vets struggled with my Friesian as the hip area is/was well covered.
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about your mare! Did you end up having g a bone scan to or just nerve blocks?

We are on a waiting list for a bone scan! In the meantime I may get his hip nerve blocked as it's the only thing we haven't done! He didn't respond to any other nerve blocks stifle down!
 
webble said:
I come at this from an emotive place and will likely be projecting so apologies but before you go down the route of throwing the kitchen sink at diagnosis ask what the likely outcomes are and what you want to get out of it
Click to expand...
Thank you! He's only lame in trot so I'm hoping it's more of a soft tissue injury opposed to something that won't have a positive outcome! 🤞
 
Charlie she s had every joint on one leg blocked, several times, X-rays of both hinds done, nerve block of tendon sheath ( can’t recall which one), bone scan looking at hind quarters, ultra sounds of tendons and attempted ultra sound of hips which couldn’t get through the muscle mass to see anything apparently…hence chomping through insurance money 🙁
 
Midlifecrisis said:
Charlie she s had every joint on one leg blocked, several times, X-rays of both hinds done, nerve block of tendon sheath ( can’t recall which one), bone scan looking at hind quarters, ultra sounds of tendons and attempted ultra sound of hips which couldn’t get through the muscle mass to see anything apparently…hence chomping through insurance money 🙁
Click to expand...
Gosh how awful! Hope you get answers soon enough! We have had nerve blocks and xrays more than once apart from the hip! He's booked in for a bone scan! Just feel like I'm going round in circles
 
Currently the vets are focusing on the stifle and are receiving Sungate injections combined with controlled daily exercise so we ll see where we are in a couple of months time.
 
Mine went for a bone scan, expensive and showed little of note. After lots more investigation the root cause of the bilateral hind limb lameness was identified as the hind suspensories with SI pain being secondary to that. I got the impression that the diagnosis of suspensory desmitis (not proximal) was pretty much one of exclusion after they'd checked everything else.

If I had my time again I probably wouldn't bother with a bone scan and would focus on the symptoms. But that's hindsight of course. If the scan had revealed something diagnostic I'd probably feel differently!
 
I don’t know whether to hope the bone scan shows something up or not Charlie…if you understand what I mean. Our bone scan was done to rule out fractures and that’s what it did but didn’t give us a definitive “ this is what’s wrong” 🙁 I really hope some light is shed soon.
 
Midlifecrisis said:
I don’t know whether to hope the bone scan shows something up or not Charlie…if you understand what I mean. Our bone scan was done to rule out fractures and that’s what it did but didn’t give us a definitive “ this is what’s wrong” 🙁 I really hope some light is shed soon.
Click to expand...
Thank you.. it really feels like my last hope to find something. He's sound if he stays on bute so there must be something somewhere 😭
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top