Retained testicle operation tomorrow - what to expect?

[cob&onion]

My boy is booked in for his gelding op tomorrow morning, he has a retained testicle so its the full works in the surgery on the table
What can i expect medication wise when he comes home? also any tips would be good from anyone with experience of this op.
He will be home on friday morning, one over-night stay at horse-pital
The vet say to leave him out and not to stable him as walking round will reduce any swelling but a bit concerned with mud etc and it getting into the wound?

 

[ruth83]

It's a long time since I dealt with a horse who has had this done so there may be slight differences BUT

He will be very groggy and sorry for himself for a while!!
You will likely have painkillers and antibiotics (norodine or similar) for him for a few days
The wound will not be fully stitched up - a small gap will be left for the wound to drain, and it may well drip for a while after surgery. As long as it's not a constant flow there is nothing to worry about.
Talk to your vet about your worries re mud etc but I imagine they will have thought about that!! Moving about will definately help

 

[zoon]

Mine was done the same time of year in 2012. He was rising 2, but I wanted to turn him out with my mare so didn't want to wait any longer. He went in first thing the day of the op and had an ultrasound scan to see if they could see where it might be, but no luck. They made a small incision next to the scrotum on the side of the retained testicle to basically check if it was still in the inguinal canal. Luckily it was - a very small deformed testicle that had adhered to the inside of the canal and would have never come down. The normal descended testicle was then also removed. Had the testicle not been in the inguinal canal, they would have had to make a very large incision similar to that in a colic operation and basically fish around in there until they found it. This obviously carries much higher risks. I went to see him as soon as he came round from the anaesthetic and he had a cannula in his neck for antibiotics and painkillers. Came home the next morning with no medication and was to be kept in for a few days minimum. They said this was to minimise risk of wound splitting open again - he had internal stitches, but the skin had been glued and it was cold and muddy and wound needed to stay clean, so he was to be in for a few days to allow a bit of healing before he went out and got dirty! His scrotum did swell a bit, but not too much (just looked like there were a good pair or testicles in there!) but that went straight down when he went back out. He did end up with a large blood clot in the scrotum on the side of the healthy testicle - thought they'd forgotten to take it out as it looked and felt exactly the same! That went on its own in about 10 days. We had absolutely no issues with the retained side.

 

[cob&onion]

Sounds a bit grusome!!
Thanks for that

Am hoping it will be in the canal part and not deep rooted somewhere! he's rising 3 so the vet doubts it will make an appearence!
the cost of the op almost doubles in price if its hidden away

 

[Spring Feather]

I had a cryptorchid years ago and his retained testicle was deep rooted and the vet had a hard time locating it and then removing it. I left my boy at the vet practice for a month as I didn't want him home in that time as he would have been an idiot careering around again with his friends. When I did pick him up, he was fine, although he had had infection during his recovery period. I still have him and he's a nice little gelding

 

[Shadow the Reindeer]

Getting him home was the easy part, I had enough painkillers (danolin) for a few days. He was fine and bright in himself. Then the day came when he came off the danolin.. he was really poorly mid week, sweating up and shaking. His hind leg also swelled. He was reluctant to walk, I mean really hard work, and it broke my heart to see him so depressed.
I put him on no-bute, and he improved ten fold over the next 12 hours ( I was in contact with the vet). You'll really have to watch him when he comes off his meds, and keep an eye on his hind leg (the side they did the op on), in case it swells.
After a week, he started to get back to normal, another week, he was back out with his friend.

This is not the horse in the photo, it was my little welsh colt I had a couple of years ago.