Scintigraphy - positive stories

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Fun Times

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Well I am not in a very happy place right now as the title would suggest. I have done lots of research on the scintigraphy process (nuclear bone scan) and I feel I understand the process and its pros and cons well enough. What I am after are positive stories where the scan has shown the problem clearly and the problem has been rectifiable with horse returning to competition. I have read a gutful of stuff about the results not being conclusive or being misleading or the problem turning out to be utterly tragic. So I feel I need a boost with accounts which have a good outcome. Clearly each horse and each problem is different, but surely there are some people out there who have been through this and it hasnt ended negatively???? Anyone???
 
My horse had one of these, I wouldn't necessarily associate it with horror stories - and it depends what the problem is, obviously... For me it pointed to the SI joint as a problem area. Ultimately it didn't have a great outcome for us but, but plenty of people have used this to diagnose things like KS and SI problems which are very treatable. The drawback might be the cost in terms of your insurance bill.
 
My Hanoverian x ID had scintigraphy scans as a rising 4 year old. He went lame on a circle on soft ground and no one could figure out where and why. He's had weeks of box rest and 3 vets and one physio and no one could diagnose him. So he went off for a scan and they found he'd fractured his hock. They gave a guarded prognosis and a years field rest. After 8 months the vet came to me to do a lameness work up. He looked 100% sound so he went off for another scan which showed excellent recovery and fusing of the bone. Both hocks were equal on the scan. He was allowed to return to work slowly. I was told the hock would not stand up to a day's hunting or 3 day eventing/high level dressage but would be Fine for RC activities. He remained sound throughout the time I owned him.
 
My dales pony has had it done. He just wasn't right behind but wasn't lame enough to get anything conclusive from nerve blocks etc. It highlighted the very first stages of arthritis in his hocks and also had a slight uptake on the sacroilliac. It was honestly the best thing we could have ever done to find to find out what was wrong rather than waiting until he got a lot lamer. We treated his hocks (steroid injections) and did shockwave on the sacroiliac after he went tense again on return to work. A year on and the difference in him is amazing and Im very grateful that we treated at such an early stage before his joints deteriorated any more.
 
My mare had this with slight possible neurological, strange lameness in three legs! Didn't really show anything, a few niggles. But... ruled out a lot, possible neck arthritis. Horse came sound by herself and still is three or years on. Only thing I may consider is insurance implications as any little niggle would be excluded!
 
My mare had it done and it was definitely worthwhile.

Our vet first examined her in the spring of this year, when she was clearly unhappy to be ridden and rearing repeatedly. X-rays showed no kissing spine but she was obviously incredibly sore. Ultrasound identified pockets of fluid between her spinal processes and her supra spinous ligament. At that point, our vet referred her to a physio who devised a programme including daily tens / ultrasound and work in a Pessoa.

Maybe 4 months later, ultrasound showed the pockets of fluid to have dispersed and she was much happier. On the instructions of our vet and physio, we tried having someone sit on her again and she refused to go forward and reared, even without a saddle.

Our vet then suggested scintigraphy, so she went to the RVC for 2 days. The scintigraphy scan showed 3 areas of residual inflammation which our vet treated by injecting short acting steroids. A week later, I got back on her and she was perfectly happy. We are now maybe 3 weeks into ridden work and our vet / physio are hopeful that she will make a full recovery.

The great thing about the scintigraphy was that it gave our vet precise areas to medicate and the difference, post medication was amazing.
 
Thank you everyone so far for sharing your experiences. My issue is that my horse is only showing fairly mild issues and I am worrying that I am unnecessarily opening a can of worms here. Having read the above, I feel less like this is the case and that it will be worth pursuing as could be the start of something that would be better nipped in the bud now.
 
Fun Times said:
Thank you everyone so far for sharing your experiences. My issue is that my horse is only showing fairly mild issues and I am worrying that I am unnecessarily opening a can of worms here. Having read the above, I feel less like this is the case and that it will be worth pursuing as could be the start of something that would be better nipped in the bud now.
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Absolutely. When our vet suggested scintigraphy, I was really worried that we were going down a high tech, invasive path that would lead to major surgery. However, that wan't the outcome at all. If all goes as anticipated, the steroid jabs shouldn't need to be repeated and my mare will be able to do everything she used to before her injury.
 
lme said:
Absolutely. When our vet suggested scintigraphy, I was really worried that we were going down a high tech, invasive path that would lead to major surgery. However, that wan't the outcome at all. If all goes as anticipated, the steroid jabs shouldn't need to be repeated and my mare will be able to do everything she used to before her injury.
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Thank you so much, that is exactly the positive outcome I was hoping to hear about. Fingers crossed your mare continues to stay happy in her work, what a great result for her.
 
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