Proximal Suspensory Desmitis & Shockwave Therapy

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Willow1306

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My mare has just been diagnosed with PSD, although it is suggested that the problem has probably been there for a while. Has anybody has any experience with PSD, Shockwave therapy and especially PSD that may have gone undetected for a long period of time?
Thanks,
Charlie Xx
 
Sorry to hear that your mare has been diagnosed with PSD. My horse was diagnosed about 5 years ago when PSD was a fairly new discovery. He wasn't lame as such - just a loss of power and swing. It was thought he would come right with box rest but he didn't and the operation was not an option for him. The current trend of thinking is that hind limb PSD, especially if not a fresh injury, will not respond to box rest alone. There are quite a few people on the forum whose horses have experienced this injury recently and I am sure they will offer more recent advice than I can. The only advice I can offer is make sure that you have a vet who is experienced in dealing with PSD.

Good Luck
 
if you search this forum for PSD you will find enough reading to keep you busy for a month!

my horse had PSD in his right hind in 2002 when it was relatively unheard of. It was picked up extremely quickly, he had 3 lots of shockwave, controlled exercise and was back competing in 6mths time - he never had another problem with it.

It definitely doesn't respond to box rest alone, whether it's a fresh injury or not. Echo EllieP about making sure you have a vet experienced in PSD to deal with it.

Shockwave doesn't work so well with more chronic injuries, but I'd still say it's worth a go before going for the denerving op, but then that's coz i've seen the op fail in several cases and because of the risk of the GA and the cost - i'd rather give the shockwave a go.

i did my final year vet school project on PSD so have looked at hundreds of cases and read every paper there is on the subject!
 
Gosh... I feel I could write an essay on this subject at the moment as my mare was diagnosed in November 2007!

Firstly, this will provide excellent background information for you: http://behindthebit.blogspot.com/2008/03/proximal-suspensory-desmitis-common.html

I agree with Star, shockwave therapy is more successful on acute injuries. It is also very expensive, and I had four sessions of it on Grace. However, the scan two weeks ago showed that although there was some improvement, there was still inflammation of the ligament in several areas and she was coming up 1/10 lame on it still
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Grace underwent the neurectomy and faciotomy last week and is now home... I decided it was the best option for her. We still think Grace's was an acute injury, but had it been a chronic one (ie. one that has been there for a period of time) I would have opted for the operation immediately. I had to give the shock wave a try though
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Please make sure your vet is experienced with PSD, I know more than anyone how important this is!
 
Thanks everybody - i will have a look at that website Becki.

She (also named Grace) was diagnosed about a fortnight ago when her loanee took her to the vets to scan her ovaries as we weren't sure whether the discomfort was related to her seasons. When this turned out not to be the case she was nerve blocked and the vet diagnosed PSD (also x-rays revealed DJD though the vet is not worried about this atm.) She is on 4 weeks box rest with weekly SwT over this period. The vet seems confident she could make a full recovery enough to do riding club level competitions but we would have to pick our ground and not risk running her on anything less than perfect.
Thankfully her loanee (i'm at Uni atm and about to move to Germany for 5 months work exp) is fantastic and despite another setback she wants to keep Grace. There has been talk of giving her a full year off and putting her in foal, but if there is no direct correlation between PSD, rest & recovery then there is probably little point to this?
I'll speak to my loanee later and ask about the vets she is using and whether they suggested the op at all.
Charlie Xx
 
My previous horse had PSD high up in both fronts and responded miraculously to rest/controlled exercise and shock wave. My current horse now has an acute case of PSD high in a front and is on box rest and had his first of three shock wave treatments. I have every hope that he will make a full recovery and be eventing before the end of the season.
 
No advice from me but sorry to hear your having a hard time with Grace at the moment willow, hope she makes a decent recovery! xx
 
HI
MY MARE WAS DISAGNOSED WITH PSD. HAD HER BOX REST FOR SIX WEEKS WELL THIS WAS ACTUALLY DONE IN A SMALL PADDOCK AS SHE WOULD HAVE DAMAGED HERSELF IF LEFT IN A BOX, SHE THEN HAD THREE LOTS OF SHOCK WAVE AND THE CONTROLLED IN HAND EXERCISE FOR SIX WEEKS THEN THE USUAL WALKING FOR SIX WEEKS RIDDEN THEN INTRODUCING TROT ETC. WE HAD THE SHOVE WAVE AT GREENWOOD ELLIS. SHE WAS ABOUT 4/10 LAME ON A CIRCLE BEFORE TREATMENT AND SOUND ON FLEXION BEFORE, AFTER WE HAD FINISHED THE PROGRAMME I WOULD SAY NOT EVERYONE WOULD NOTICE HER TO BE UNLEVEL BUT TO ME IT WAS STILL THERE. WHEN RIDDEN I COULD FEEL HER OCCASIONALLY DROPPING HER HIP. I DECIDED THEN TO RETIRE HER AS I DID NOT WANT HER TO BREAK AGAIN. SO THERE IS HOPE BY THE WAY MY HORSE HAD IT SLIGHTLY IN ONE HIND AND QUITE BADLY IN THE OTHER INCIDENTALLY IT WAS QUITE HIGH UP. ON SCANS IT SHOWED A GREAT IMPROVEMENT WITH TREATMENT. SHE IS HAPPILY IN FOAL AS THE VETS SAID THEY DID NOT THINK IT WAS CAUSED BY BAD CONFIRMATION - I THINK SHE COULD HAVE DONE THIS TO HERSELF OVER THE YEARS AS SHE HAS ONE HELL OF A BUCK IN HER AND COULD BE SEEN REGULARLY RUNNING AROUND HER FIELD BUCKING AND SHOWING OFF. SO I BELIEVE YOU WILL GET IMPROVEMENT IF NOT COMPLETE SOUNDNESS, I HOPE THIS HELPS.
 
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HI
MY MARE WAS DISAGNOSED WITH PSD.... INCIDENTALLY IT WAS QUITE HIGH UP.

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that is the definition of PSD - it has to be high up because PSD is inflammation of the origin of the suspensory ligament - if it was lower down it wouldn't be PSD.
 
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