KISSING SPINE - INTERSPINOUS LIGAMENT DESMOTOMY

[Tonks]

Kezimac and all others who have recently had the desmotomy - how are all your horses getting on??

Mine will be having his radiographs and bone scans hopefully just before or after Xmas.

Has the desmotomy worked?????

Best of luck.

 

[kezimac]

I going to do a proper update - mine had stitches out last week - and now starting turnout, the wounds have healed well but a little raised and so can't put Pessoa on yet - she seems to be walking really freely and looks more comfy - so looks good so far

 

[Tonks]

Sorry don't know what you did with your [mare?] before but are you expecting her to return to full work after a period of rehabilitation?

What does Richard at Cotts said about prognosis?

Fingers crossed for you XXXXX

 

[kezimac]

We did dressage - no jumping and also did hacking out - Richard thinks prognosis good for back - cant guarantee me I won't uncover a problem in her sacroiliac as he felt she was sore over the joint (I know it's not ligament as had that scanned a few months ago as she was sore and ligament was fine ) and the SI joint may need medication end of jan depending on whether the soreness still there then - it may be she has guarded the back and injured the SI joint or it could have always been there and the back is secondary, he does say sometimes you sort the back and find out other stuff after. I am hoping to return to at least hacking and dressage schooling- whether we compete I don't know -with one thing and another its now been 18 months since last competition(she also had surgery last yr to remove an ovary as a Tumor on it!!!!!!)

 

[nbred]

hi everyone,
quick update on my boy, so we are about 12weeks post op and i have been back on board for about 4 weeks, although this has been literally sitting on him for a few minutes lunge session and he feels great, stride length has increased massively and he is much softer through his neck and in the contact. Although it has uncovered a very cheeky and lively pony! ! he feels good which is fab! he has had physio treatments and she is very pleased with him so this week has been increased to 10mins ridden work after the lunge. he is going in for xrays at the end of jan to see if the spaces have widened, so glad everyones horses seem to being doing well x

 

[Tammytoo]

Great news and thanks for the update.

Please keep us posted as I am considering this for my mare.

 

[CLB]

excellent news nbred, my mare is having the new surgery on Thursday after the steriods and shock waves showed a remarkable difference, albeit short term.

With the new less invasive surgery can you tell me what the after care and rehab plan is, i have heard you start it very quickly after the operation.

I am very nervouse and am hoping this is a postive outcome for everyone and my girl.

 

[LittleGreyMare]

We have had two horses operated on. The first an older horse was knocked out to be operated on an the lounged and brought back into work as suggested. Sadly he never came back right and within a year he was not safe to ride. Sadly he was PTS this year as was a danger to us and himself. In hindsight at his age (13) we would not have had the op done and dropped him to intro.

The second a seven year old was operated on last june whilst still standing, we followed the box rest the lounged him and very briefly rode him. We then turned him away over the winter and just starting to lounge him again. From the first weeks lounging he is a different horse and we are really looking forward to getting him going again.

Two very different experiences with (hopefully) two different outcomes. I do really believe that turning the second horse away after his initial rehab has worked really well.

 

[Wagtail]

Unbelievably, I am back riding my boy after giving up on him last year. He had the traditional surgery of having five processes taken out under standing sedation. The op went really well and his movement was noticably better almost immediately. His rehab went well (was operated on in November 2011), and I was back riding him, but had issues with him head tossing, and the freaking out after being girthed, was worse than ever. Last summer I tried one more time, but even lungeing him was a disaster as he kept having panic attacks at the lunge roller and pessoa. So I gave up last Autumn.

In one last ditch attempt to address his panic issue, I decided to treat him for ulcers. After only four days on abprazole I tried him in the saddle and he was fine, even with a tight girth. A week later, I got on him and he didn't batt an eyelid. I have been lunging him in the equiami and he's going well so far.

 

[annunziata]

Hi,

My horse had kissing spine surgery around 4 weeks ago (the new technique used at Cotts Equine). Has anyone else had this surgery? Would be interested to hear your stories.

thanks

Come and join our Facebook page horses with kissing spine there are lots of people who had the same surgery as your horse on there x

 

[Caballito]

Great to hear everyone's positive experiences of this - particularly the new interspinous ligament desmotomy surgery as this is a potential option for my boy. He's being investigated next week for KS and the ISLD would definitely be my surgery of choice (if he needed surgery)

Is there anyone here whose horse had the new surgery when it was in its infancy a few years ago? I'm interested to hear some longer term outcomes.

 

[charlie76]

Our horse had this op in January. Unfortunaly ours has so far not been great. We were originally going to have the traditional op, we were two days off of the insurance running out, we were recommend

 

[charlie76]

Ed the new op and had to make a decision in a hurry. Took vets advice and went with the new op.
When peforming the op the surgeon caught the top of one of the vertebrae with the scapal chipping the bone. It is now April and he still has a lump where the saddle goes and cringes when you touch it, there is no way we can put a saddle on.
We took him back to the vet who x rayed and scanned him twice, they just put him on anti biotics ( even though there is no sign of infection.) And basically told us to wait and see what happens. This was two months ago and its no better. The horse is in more pain than before the op!
We don't know what to do now as we feel the operation was messed up, we are left with a horse we can't ride and have been abandoned. We can't re op as we are no longer insured.

 

[Caballito]

Oh no Charlie76, I'm so sorry to hear that. I really hope he comes right eventually. Did the surgeon actually admit to chipping the bone?
Fingers crossed for a recovery x

 

[charlie76]

Yes, he did. We also have before and after x rays with no chip on one and a def chip on the other