Nervous about vet visit and hock fusion experiences pls?

kinnygirl1

kinnygirl1

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So in a nutshell, Stanley was diagnosed with hock arthritis in both hocks in June and steroids were injected into the joints and a rehab exercise programme begun. 6 weeks post injection, vet very happy with progress and level of work upped. Next week will be 2 months after that and vet is coming out again to see how he's doing. I'm nervous as I'm not sure whether he has progressed from the last check up. He can be quite stiff when he comes out although once warmed up seems to move well (according to instructor). My vet has mentioned hock fusion using ethanol to me before and I wonder if she might suggest this when she sees him next week. Can you tell me your experiences of this please ie, what to expect, what sort of a rehab it is etc.

Many thanks
 
Mine had spavins about three years ago. Injection into the hocks, also one in the sacro-illiac (sp?) joint. As I remember she had a couple of weeks off (turned out) following the treatment followed by several weeks of walk only, vet visit to assess, then a few weeks of walk and some trot (it was all carefully timed), another vet visit at which stage the hocks were absolutely fine but the sacro-illiac joint still some very slight stiffness so at the point we were able to do everything except jump - including going for a blast in the stubble.

Eventually - well about 3 months on from first treatment - the vet was completely satisfied that all issues were resolved and she was back in full work, and been right as rain since. She is maybe not quite so scopey with her jumping since the spavins, and definitely objects to hard ground (which I avoid anyway) but she isn't really much different to before she was diagnosed.

I've known quite a few go down a similar route, and the re-hab has always been the same - walk, then walk and some trot, gradually introduce more work.

Think her hocks were quite bad so vet went straight for the fusion option. The hardest part was the walk/trot regime - she's not the happy hacker type and it felt like riding an unexploded bomb sometimes!

I think you just have to listen to the options the vet puts forward. Mine was always very optimistic that there would be a good outcome and I trusted him.
 
HandBR said:
Mine had spavins about three years ago. Injection into the hocks, also one in the sacro-illiac (sp?) joint. As I remember she had a couple of weeks off (turned out) following the treatment followed by several weeks of walk only, vet visit to assess, then a few weeks of walk and some trot (it was all carefully timed), another vet visit at which stage the hocks were absolutely fine but the sacro-illiac joint still some very slight stiffness so at the point we were able to do everything except jump - including going for a blast in the stubble.

Eventually - well about 3 months on from first treatment - the vet was completely satisfied that all issues were resolved and she was back in full work, and been right as rain since. She is maybe not quite so scopey with her jumping since the spavins, and definitely objects to hard ground (which I avoid anyway) but she isn't really much different to before she was diagnosed.

I've known quite a few go down a similar route, and the re-hab has always been the same - walk, then walk and some trot, gradually introduce more work.

Think her hocks were quite bad so vet went straight for the fusion option. The hardest part was the walk/trot regime - she's not the happy hacker type and it felt like riding an unexploded bomb sometimes!

I think you just have to listen to the options the vet puts forward. Mine was always very optimistic that there would be a good outcome and I trusted him.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this.. My vet is quite optimistic too. Just wondering what to expect post fusion... Do you start rehab straight away to help the fusion take place?
 
It was about 3 years ago so I am a little hazy on the details, but I am pretty sure we were riding out in walk very soon afterwards and as she was out 24/7 anyway then obviously she was moving about in the field.
 
Can't be too much help, but an old YO sold a horse that had had his hocks fused aged 8ish, went on to compete BS80/90 and was sound the entire time I knew him. Sorry, can't be more specific about rehab or anything.

Good luck, and I'm sure there will be others with much more information.
 
Very good, worked well after the affects of the steroid injections and tildren had worn off. Had him fused about four years ago now. Cost £300 for both hocks with xrays (these have to be done at time of procedure).

Can be disadvantages, i.e. no more space left in hock joint for other things, so if it doesn't work you can't go back to trying steroid injections again. Also there is a problem with 6-8% of horses 3-4 years following the procedure where they can get a shift of impact from concussion going into the top hock joint but this happened with my horse and the lateral extensions on his hind shoes and a short course of bute solved the situation.

Its given him many years of extra life, and until recently we were jumping and competing in unaff dressage and intend to go back to low level dressage fingers xsed in the future.

Arthritis is more of a management thing, there is no 'magic' cure, it takes remedial shoeing, as much turnout as possible, anti inflammatories, working on different surfaces or dropping down slightly of workload if necessary and a good joint supplement to keep them on the right path. The ethanol which is pure alcohol is injected into the joint space following a contrast dye injection to see if the direction of travel is desirable, if the path the contrast dye takes is into the top hock the procedure can't be done. Can't remember the figures for this but I think from memory its around 8% but I may be wrong.

I can't find much recent research, but I know many horses that have had it done, and it has proven to have a very high successful rate. It can still take 12-18 months for the joints to fuse but the pain is taken away immediately as the ethanol kills the nerve endings inside the hock. The horse still has sensation on the outside of the joint, but not the inside. The day following the procedure my horse nearly took my eye out, he could lift his back feet so high! :)

The photos of my horse in the siggy were taken about 8 months following the procedure (from recollection). The horse can go out the following day on grass as no steroid has been used. The procedure takes about 50 mins, with sedative wearing off 20 on top.

I really think its worth while. Its usually a 'last resort treatment' mainly because the steroid injections (intra articular) haven't been as good as was hoped or the Tildren hasn't been as effective or the horse has not lasted long enough during sessions of Tildren.

I can't remember the exact exercise rehab following the treatment but I think from memory it consisted of 3 weeks walk (hacking) then school surface then trotting for 2 and then cantering, with jumping some two to three months after this but again I may be wrong. At the time I thought the memory of having it done would stay with me forever, but its amazing how quickly you forget the minor details.

In a nutshell I would NOT hesitate to do it again with another horse.

this is a good research paper on the subject: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00512.x/full
Here is my original post about having the procedure done and replies:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...s-fused-with-ethanol&highlight=ethanol+fusion

Here is my post about the complication with ethanol fusion http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...l-fusion-(chemical-arthrodesis-in-hock)/page2
 
Last edited by a moderator:
pixie27 said:
Can't be too much help, but an old YO sold a horse that had had his hocks fused aged 8ish, went on to compete BS80/90 and was sound the entire time I knew him. Sorry, can't be more specific about rehab or anything.

Good luck, and I'm sure there will be others with much more information.
Click to expand...

Thank you... Good to know a success story. ��
 
applecart14 said:
Very good, worked well after the affects of the steroid injections and tildren had worn off. Had him fused about four years ago now. Cost £300 for both hocks with xrays (these have to be done at time of procedure).

Can be disadvantages, i.e. no more space left in hock joint for other things, so if it doesn't work you can't go back to trying steroid injections again. Also there is a problem with 6-8% of horses 3-4 years following the procedure where they can get a shift of impact from concussion going into the top hock joint but this happened with my horse and the lateral extensions on his hind shoes and a short course of bute solved the situation.

Its given him many years of extra life, and until recently we were jumping and competing in unaff dressage and intend to go back to low level dressage fingers xsed in the future.

Arthritis is more of a management thing, there is no 'magic' cure, it takes remedial shoeing, as much turnout as possible, anti inflammatories, working on different surfaces or dropping down slightly of workload if necessary and a good joint supplement to keep them on the right path. The ethanol which is pure alcohol is injected into the joint space following a contrast dye injection to see if the direction of travel is desirable, if the path the contrast dye takes is into the top hock the procedure can't be done. Can't remember the figures for this but I think from memory its around 8% but I may be wrong.

I can't find much recent research, but I know many horses that have had it done, and it has proven to have a very high successful rate. It can still take 12-18 months for the joints to fuse but the pain is taken away immediately as the ethanol kills the nerve endings inside the hock. The horse still has sensation on the outside of the joint, but not the inside. The day following the procedure my horse nearly took my eye out, he could lift his back feet so high! :)

The photos of my horse in the siggy were taken about 8 months following the procedure (from recollection). The horse can go out the following day on grass as no steroid has been used. The procedure takes about 50 mins, with sedative wearing off 20 on top.

I really think its worth while. Its usually a 'last resort treatment' mainly because the steroid injections (intra articular) haven't been as good as was hoped or the Tildren hasn't been as effective or the horse has not lasted long enough during sessions of Tildren.

I can't remember the exact exercise rehab following the treatment but I think from memory it consisted of 3 weeks walk (hacking) then school surface then trotting for 2 and then cantering, with jumping some two to three months after this but again I may be wrong. At the time I thought the memory of having it done would stay with me forever, but its amazing how quickly you forget the minor details.

In a nutshell I would NOT hesitate to do it again with another horse.

this is a good research paper on the subject: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2011.00512.x/full
Here is my original post about having the procedure done and replies:
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...s-fused-with-ethanol&highlight=ethanol+fusion

Here is my post about the complication with ethanol fusion http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/foru...l-fusion-(chemical-arthrodesis-in-hock)/page2
Click to expand...
Thank you for this! My vet seems quite positive and tbf I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself as she hasn't said for definite that we will do the fusion just yet. I just want to be prepared so as to make the best decision for him. He lives out 24/7 so ideal for his arthritis and numerous other issues, bless him.
 
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