Question about de-nerving

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Sberry

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I have a 9'year old mare ID x TB who had a freak accident 3 years ago which resulted in damage to the cartilage inside her foot - after considerable box rest she did not come sound and Vet advised de-nerve. this was done 2 years ago and I have a sound horse - the procedure was on one front leg only. During a hooling around session in the bad weather she pulled a shoe of on the foot that had the de-nerve - we had a lot of snow and Farrier couldn't get to us to replace shoe - she went about 7 days without a shoe but it was obvious she was becoming very footsore to the point of hobbling on anything other than flat, soft ground. Farrier put shoe back on and she was then sound. How can she have been lame on the de-nerved foot and then sound when shod? Am I being thick here - the whole point of the de-nerving was because of pain in the foot - the procedure was very low down so surely the whole foot would have no feeling in it?
 
Double check which nerve she had cut, very low down probably just blocked a heel bulb or similar. To block the whole foot must have been a pastern area cut. They do try to block the minimum area for maximum results without losing all sensation.
 
Rebels said:
Double check which nerve she had cut, very low down probably just blocked a heel bulb or similar. To block the whole foot must have been a pastern area cut. They do try to block the minimum area for maximum results without losing all sensation.
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Thanks for your suggestion - The injury was inside the hoof capsule and only revealed when she had an MRI - there was no outside evidence of the injury - the injury caused the hoof wall to contract slightly - I will speak to the Vet who did the procedure - she had said if became unsound again then she could de-nerve again higher up
 
I am waiting to speak to the vet who did the opp, if it has grown back it is very strange as the original injury will never improve so in theory if it had grown back she would be lame from the original injury - until we had the bad snow she was out doing prelim dressage and scoring 70% plus so must be sound! I know a horse who was de-nerved 15 years ago and is still sound, another on the yard I am on was deserved 4 years ago and is fine - I think it may be luck of the draw and skill of the surgeon as to wether the nerve grows back. Will have to wait and see what the vet says.
 
Well she wouldn't be the first horse who came sound from joint damage that vets had said could not be cured.

Was the diagnosis by xray or MRI? If it was by xray then I'd say they probably got the diagnosis wrong and it was soft tissue injury causing the lameness all along, which often does not heal with rest when it is inside the foot.
 
cptrayes said:
Well she wouldn't be the first horse who came sound from joint damage that vets had said could not be cured.

Was the diagnosis by xray or MRI? If it was by xray then I'd say they probably got the diagnosis wrong and it was soft tissue injury causing the lameness all along, which often does not heal with rest when it is inside the foot.
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The injury was torn cartilage in the foot - it was diagnosed by 2 MRI scans 12 weeks apart, also X-rays - she had IRAP treatment - a total of 12 months box rest - the cartilage starts to ocify which contracted the hoof wall, changing the shape of the foot slightly, my vets gave the de-nerving option as a last resort - not a decision I took lightly!
 
Im in Yorkshire, just out of interest, which Vets did you use? My mare had a similar problem in her hoof with her DDFT and was diagnosed by MRI. She is now sound. Just curious who looked after your horse.
 
Izzwizz said:
Im in Yorkshire, just out of interest, which Vets did you use? My mare had a similar problem in her hoof with her DDFT and was diagnosed by MRI. She is now sound. Just curious who looked after your horse.
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Hirds in Shelf, Peter Scholefield did the diagnosis along with Maja Andersen who did the surgery
 
Sberry said:
Hirds in Shelf, Peter Scholefield did the diagnosis along with Maja Andersen who did the surgery
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Excellent Vet who incidentally was one of the Vets at the Olympics! He treated my mare for her problem, was spot on with his diagnosis and I would trust him implicitly.....good luck
 
Izzwizz said:
Excellent Vet who incidentally was one of the Vets at the Olympics! He treated my mare for her problem, was spot on with his diagnosis and I would trust him implicitly.....good luck
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Yes they are great Vets - I have used them for about 15 years - luckily they are very close to me - I can practically see the clinic from my house!
 
Sberry said:
The injury was torn cartilage in the foot - it was diagnosed by 2 MRI scans 12 weeks apart, also X-rays - she had IRAP treatment - a total of 12 months box rest - the cartilage starts to ocify which contracted the hoof wall, changing the shape of the foot slightly, my vets gave the de-nerving option as a last resort - not a decision I took lightly!
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WOW! Belt and braces then. What a mystery why she is sound now if the nerve has rejoined then. Please let us know what you find out.
 
Was told by my vet that de-nerving can typically last about 18 months to 2 years.
I do believe a lot of horses are written off with various problems which can sometimes resolve with or without the vet's help.
 
Sberry said:
Yes they are great Vets - I have used them for about 15 years - luckily they are very close to me - I can practically see the clinic from my house!
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You are close, I'm about half an hour away, other side of Brighouse. I really enjoyed watching the MRI, Peter explained everything very clearly, very nice man.
 
Zuzzie said:
Was told by my vet that de-nerving can typically last about 18 months to 2 years.
I do believe a lot of horses are written off with various problems which can sometimes resolve with or without the vet's help.
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sorry, should have said 18 months to 5 years.
 
Sberry said:
I have a 9'year old mare ID x TB who had a freak accident 3 years ago which resulted in damage to the cartilage inside her foot - after considerable box rest she did not come sound and Vet advised de-nerve. this was done 2 years ago and I have a sound horse - the procedure was on one front leg only. During a hooling around session in the bad weather she pulled a shoe of on the foot that had the de-nerve - we had a lot of snow and Farrier couldn't get to us to replace shoe - she went about 7 days without a shoe but it was obvious she was becoming very footsore to the point of hobbling on anything other than flat, soft ground. Farrier put shoe back on and she was then sound. How can she have been lame on the de-nerved foot and then sound when shod? Am I being thick here - the whole point of the de-nerving was because of pain in the foot - the procedure was very low down so surely the whole foot would have no feeling in it?
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UPDATE : I spoke today to the Vet who carried out the procedure - she felt that they would be some feeling in the foot as there is no hard & fast line to be drawn where the loss of feeling would be and that she was more than likely footsore form the loss of the shoe, with a bit of bruising on the sole - to keep an eye on her and if I am worried to get her out to look at my mare - now I will be paranoid about every little step that doesn't look quite right.....
 
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