Medicating stifles?

[Jnhuk]

Has anyone had this done and how long did the effects last?

Did their horse need any repeats of this procedure and if yes, what was the interval between joint medications?

Many thanks in advance

 

[FlyingCoo]

Depends what you are medicating for, if it is just for stiffness or for something more underlying depends on interval & success rate. Can PM me if you want as I have been through the mill slightly with medicating stifles.

 

[BDyasmine]

mine had steroids injected in both steroids followed by 2 weeks of box rest. came sound for 2 days then back to how she was before, so has just had an arthroscopy. however another horse at my yard had the same treatment and came sound, so think its just a matter of trying really!

 

[Jnhuk]

Okay thanks. One of mine wasn't quite right behind last summer and started going disunited when SJ. Had several investigations to try and find out what happening. Eventually after x-rays, nerve blocks and ultrasound proving a little inconclusive and the fact that horse has been excluded for joint related issues by insurance, senior horse vet (with good rep) decided for stifle to be medicated. Box rest for a few days then gradual introduction back to work plus physio and lots of in hand work over raised poles. I hacked this horse for several months before riding in a school again and only started jumping about four months down the line. However, almost a year since first noticed issues, he has started to go disunited again SJ and finding farrier difficult. Physio thinks he may need joint re-medicated but this was never mentioned as a recurring thing at vets last year.

Just trying to find out little info before having another chat with vet next week once physio come back for their 3 week review

 

[JustKickOn]

The stifle is a tricky joint to treat. It's a major weight bearing one and it moves all of the time.

Once there is damage there it can't be undone, it can be tidied with surgery to clean the joint up and alleviated with steroids etc, but they will always need topping up as they're just a short fix. The further down the injections you get, the less effective they tend to be, and while the horse may stay sound for 6 months or so, that doesn't necessarily mean they're pain free for all that time. It's a big joint and even with the keyhole cameras vets can't see the entire joint.

Have the vets given you a diagnosis of what is actually wrong? Do they think arthritis?

Google IRAP therapy for horses, read about it a bit and then discuss with your vets.

Fingers crossed for you, keep us updated.

 

[Jnhuk]

Thanks JustKickOn. No they didn't give me an actual diagnosis. It was more let's try this and see if he improves which he did.

Will have a google at IRAP before having a chat with vets again

 

[JustKickOn]

Crikey, I'm not sure if it's normal practice but I'm a bit shocked they haven't given you a diagnosis or investigated further before prescribing treatment.

One of ours is under investigation for arthritis of the stifle and possible SI issues, however she has has the equivalent of a 5 stage vetting done but not for a sale, full lameness work up at the vets, x-rays and is now having scans. The vets have suggested possible treatments and options, but are waiting for their final result before prescribing any treatment. Out girl isn't lame however, but mechanically her movement isn't correct and she is compensating, an experiences some degree of pain at certain points in her work. She is currently on field rest while vets are looking into it.

I can't really understand the prerogative of your vet - try this and see what happens? It may have worked for a short while but the un-soundness has returned which indicates there is an underlying issue which needs to be found.

In your situation, I would be asking for a diagnosis and a work up on the horse. Budget/insurance allowing to do so of course. It is a very frustrating position to be in

 

[Nudibranch]

Mine has started on Depomax, originally the vet considered the stifle until some relatively conclusive blocks showed the hocks were the issue. However these things are rarely clear cut and to be honest the x rays showed very little - just a suggestion which combined with the blocks was enough to make the call. My vet, who is very experienced, did explain that we may not actually find anything obvious during the workup and sometimes blocks just don't work well. So we were lucky. He will need more, but at present we do not know how many or how often. Basically the vet reviewed after a month and I monitor for deterioration. I would expect yours to need further medicating as well. "Try this and see what happens" is sometimes the only choice for vets - things don't always work in black and white.

 

[Jnhuk]

Thanks Nudibranch. We are quite happy his hocks are good. The nerve blocks were slightly suggestive of stifle but in reality with such a mild lameness and minor improvement, it really was difficult to be 100% certain. We really didn't want to keep doing more and more tests. Think the next suggestion was nuclear scintigraphy which my vets can do as they are a specialist equine practice but we were all trying to being practical especially since horse is not covered by insurance.

He had improved after medicating stifle, we were all happy then so see how things go.

He is currently not lame but I know things not fully right so hence my original query about how long things last. I know in humans they only like to do 3x steroid injections into a joint but obviously in animals that is different.

Life is always various shades of grey!