Pastern Arhtrodesis- any experiences??

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wattamus

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I posted some time ago about my horse being diagnosed with severe high ringbone and the attempts to fuse the joint with steroid injections. However this hasn't worked (still as lame as she was 3 months ago and bute does't seem to work very well) and so the vet thinks its time to consider surgery involving plates and bolts- such horrible things!

has anyone else had this done to their horse? What is the surgery like? What is the aftercare like? I am going to talk to the vet tomorrow so will get lots of info then but would like some experiences if you have any past experiences that would be lovely!

Thanks guys
 
Hi, yes my horse had this op on his hind right leg 18 months ago and he made a full recovery. He can still do whatever I want him too, is completely sound and happy. The surgery was ok, but he had to have a cast on his leg and so he was kept at the vets for a month. The aftercare wasn't easy, he came home and turned into a nutter in the stable and was on box rest for about 4 -5 months then it was a lot of walking in hand and he is a very highly strung tb. But he's now absolutely fine, he did make a fast recovery though so I was lucky.
 
OOOOh a month at the vets?? my vets is 2hrs away- i don't think i caould do without her for a month! might go camp outside :p thanks for the reply :)
 
My boy went to Newmarket vets which is just under 2 hrs for me but it was a month as they don't allow a horse home with a leg in a cast due to the cast rubbing and causing infection and sores. it's litally a broken leg cast that they have on for the month. My boy did have horrific sores when the cas came off, really deep holes but they healed perfectly, realty surprised me that they did. How old is your horse and which leg is it?
 
Had a look at stays, unfortunately for some reason I can't make them large on my iPad. My horse had both high and low ringbone and he was only 8 at the time, he had no cartilage in the pastern at all, they think it was caused by an injury. The only thing I would check with the vet is how sound they believe she will become as it it a front leg, my understanding is that the success rate is a lot lower with a front limb than a hind. Is you girl pretty good with box rest too? If she is that will make recovery a lot easier.
 
Yes she has been on box rest for the past three months, she's really good with it, however you can see that she doesn't enjoy it :( but you know she's a good girl and she stays in during winter anyway, the only difference is that she wouldn't be ridden x
 
Really interested to read this - my 16 year old mare has a bone cyst in the off hind pastern and Liphook are considering arthrodesis if the steroid injections don't work (has currently had two with a fair amount of improvement).

I was quoted a 75% success rate with the arthrodesis, with some competition horses getting back to the level they were at previously. She is NOT good at box rest, however, which is worrying me if we have to go down that route, but I guess if she comes back sound and back to being able to do most things it is worth it.
 
That was the issue with my boy...really bad at box rest.. he had just a thin metal plate & screws holding the joint together & he was running round the stable kicking walls with it.. i was worried sick. Spent most days sedating him & giving him buckets of haylage to keep him quiet. In the end I resulted to putting him out in a tiny sick paddock with buckets of haylage to keep him still - vet advised me not to but he would have done more damage to himself in the stable!
 
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