Ligament Damage - Turn Away or Operate

N

NWalker

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 January 2010
Messages
132
Visit site
My sister's daughter's pony, who is 14 has deep tissue damage to the Anula (sp?) ligament. She is 9/10th lame and has been on box rest for the last three months with no improvement although my Sister feels the swelling has gone down considerably. Her vet has advised my Sister to have her pony operated on. Another vet, who came last week to innoculate, very old school, feels that this pony should have been put out in the field for six months on bute and let the injury repair itself. Obviously, would rather not put this pony through an operation and more box rest if not strictly necessary. Has anybody had any experience of this type of injury and what was the outcome. Thank you very much.
 
Sorry I've no experience of this injury but I would agree with the 2nd vet but then I'm probably 'old school' as well. I hate the thought of putting horses on months of box-rest -it's so unnatural for them and can be very stressful. There is also the fact that all operations carry a risk of death to consider.
 
I to would probably go with the 2nd vet opinion too to be honest. i don't think an operation and further box rest would be fair. However, I would put the horse in a smallish paddock as opposed to bunging him out in a field with a load of other horses. I agree with pearlsasinger though as in I think box rest for a long period is unnatural and not necessarily helpful for certain conditions.
 
Thank you. I would agree with you both. I think my Sister wants to ensure that she has the best chance but would not mind how long it took. Do these sort of injuries repair themselves with time or is this sort injury something you definitely need to operate on?
 
To be honest i have no idea re healing - each case will be different as it'll depend on the severity of the injury. I know of someone involved in the PC SJ teams my mum manages, thier horse damaged its suspensory ligament and, although I believe the initial treatment was as you have done they then just turned the horse away for several months and it returned to soundness and they sold it to a lady who was loaning it at the end of the injury - she happened to be a vet as well so knew all about the injury etc etc.

I think it just takes time but if you are able to give that time then that's all you can do really. I think a happy, contented horse is likely to heal quicker than one that is stressed and i di believe having a horse couped up does cause it to be stressed (even if it doesn't show it) as it's just not natural for them.

I have had experience of a serious tendon injury in my firts pony (he broke down after a team chase, he was 19). We were told he'd need at leats 6 weeks box rest so that's what we started with him. However, the combination of the shock and I thin stress of being in, even though he was used to being stabled, just seemed to cause him to get depressed. Over the cause of a few weeks he just went downhill, got colic, was tubed but sadly he ended up dying from what should have been a fixable injury.

I would NEVER box rest like that again as a result, I wish we'd turned him out in a separate paddock and I think he'd have coped a heck of a lot better. Hindsight's a wonderful thing though.

Try him turned out and see how he goes I reckon. He could always come in in the evenings over the winter months if needs be and if that's what he would usually be used to.
 
I'm a great believer in time and Doc Green, but to be honest not many people nowadays would want to do that, it's time and costing them money and instant fix is what they want.
 
i personally would go for the turn away option. i've done that with my horse and he's enjoyed just being a horse and having the attention. but i'm old school as well though!
 
My mare did exactly the same type of damaged - put her on box rest for six weeks to let the leg rest up and begin to repair - kept it cold hosed and Ice Tight wrapped - after that turned her away for 12 months - within 6 mts she was sound but let her have an extra 6mts as it was over the winter and came back into work in fantastic condition and a better state of mind. Completed the Summer Solitice 100 miler the following year. In my mind DR Green did good. Good Luck !
 
Going to go against the majority here, I have had this operation done on more than one leg on 2 ponies. IME the annular ligament cannot heal itself once thickened, it is constricting the tendon like a tight elastic band & rubbing on it, this causes fluid & swelling which is what is causing the lameness. If you leave it you are risking further damage to other structures. It is a keyhole surgery straightforward procedure unlike years ago. Box rest is 6 weeks, then pen rest. Can't remember exactly, but full return to work was about 3 months. If i were you I would research thoroughly & maybe talk to the referal hospital. Good luck with whatever you decide. Oh, by the way, I initially went for surgery having rested the leg box & field for months & it never really improved. In those days it was an open surgery, unlike now.
 
kizzywiz said:
Going to go against the majority here, I have had this operation done on more than one leg on 2 ponies. IME the annular ligament cannot heal itself once thickened, it is constricting the tendon like a tight elastic band & rubbing on it, this causes fluid & swelling which is what is causing the lameness. If you leave it you are risking further damage to other structures. It is a keyhole surgery straightforward procedure unlike years ago. Box rest is 6 weeks, then pen rest. Can't remember exactly, but full return to work was about 3 months. If i were you I would research thoroughly & maybe talk to the referal hospital. Good luck with whatever you decide. Oh, by the way, I initially went for surgery having rested the leg box & field for months & it never really improved. In those days it was an open surgery, unlike now.
Click to expand...

I agree. Some years ago my mare did her annular ligament but as she was in foal we didn't want to operate at that time. My vet wrote to my insurance company to get an extension so that she could be operated once the foal was born to which they agreed as she felt an operation was the best option. For various reasons we were not able to have her operated on and she was always slightly lame afterwards.
 
If your horse is 9/10th lame ie nearly non weight bearing lame, after 3 months box rest then I think an operation would be the way forward. This is a significant level of lameness are you sure that is correct? I have improved many by injecting steroids into the tendon sheath to help settle inflammation in the area with good results. Has your vet looked at this? I would expect some progress by now if rest was going to work. Unfortunately the annular ligament supports the fetlock and the tendons running underneath, but when thickened it restricts movement and compresses on the underlying structures, hence the fluid accumulation and pain often associated with it. Surgery can improve the outcome significantly. I would speak to your vet about potential outcome of rest vs surgery and do your own research.
 
agree with kizzywiz. my horse damaged his annular ligament in both hindlimbs. he didn't come sound or anywhere near it with 3mths small paddock rest. in fact, he got worse. he was operated on and spent 6mths returning to full work. he had a setback and damaged it again in the field, but with further time off he came right and hasn't looked back. i'm sure if i hadn't had the op he wouldn't be with us today.
 
My mare had the annular ligament cut in her fore leg after trying the rest and steroid injections made no difference! She was still lame following the surgery but ultra sound revealed it was due to adhesions and granulation tissue ! I was told she would never be more than pasture sound, but turned her away for a year and thankfully has been fine :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top