sinus bone flap experiences (or a picture?)

[parsley]

I have booked my boy into the vets to have a bone flap taken out to treat his sinusitus and am now fretting about it. I was wondering if anyone else's horse has had this done and how they got on?

Also, if anyone has a picture of how it looks after healing that would also be great!

 

[fizz-tally]

chloe had this just after i got her,she had green stuff cominng out her nose so they took her in & remove part of the wall,she made a fab recovery & only had a small dent in her face

hope he does ok xxxx

 

[parsley]

Thanks for replying!

The vet wants him in for 3 to 4 weeks - can you remember how long it was before you could start riding again?

 

[fizz-tally]

chloe was in for just over 1 week,she came home & was on 3 weeks box rest[middle of summer] to keep her away from flys etc,we brought her back into work after her final check up,which was 6 weeks from when she had the op

 

[parsley]

I thought it would be about mid April until I can ride

I will miss him when hes away

 

[Louby]

My boy had this done but to remove a tooth knocking it out through the bone flap. He also had green thick discharge which was really smelly and the cause was thought to be a fractured tooth. It was done under GA and I was dreading it. I was amazed that a flap of bone could be removed and replaced with such precision and although he looked like frankenstein with the hundreds of staples holding it together he looked totally normal. It healed perfectly with not even a white hair, he is black and he had a trephine in for about 2 weeks after but in the sinus above his eye and it was flushed 2 - 3 times a day. That didnt look very nice. All was well for a few months but the discharge came back so after unsuccessful antibiotics, he was trephined again this time in the bone flap. This has left a small indentation which unless you look closely you wouldnt notice. He is well in himself apart from a fractured leg!!!! (always in the wars!) but the discharge keeps coming back. We manage it when neccesary by feeding him from the floor so it drains and touch wood he's fine. Oh he was at the vets for 9 weeks!! mainly as he could have individual turnout there as at our old yard he wouldnt have been able to go out with other horses with the trephine in but I could ride 3 weeks after the op.
Good luck I hope everything goes well.

 

[parsley]

Thanks

- this is really helpful - my boy had a tooth out and the sinuses were flushed but the infection has remained. The vet says he needs to have a bone flap removed, he also said that the discharge might come back, but probably not as putrid smelling as it is now. Hopefully his dent won't be that big then.

 

[Louby]

There was no dent at all after the op, it was the trephine that left a dent on him. My vet told also me that the success rate wasnt great but the tooth had to come out. They tried to take it out under sedation but the damn thing broke so it was a GA. Thank god for insurance!
He did have an injected antibiotic every day (cant remember what it was called) as the powder didnt touch it and that worked for a while. Vet also mentioned Baytril which is an antibiotic but as he was a young horse there was side effects but he did say if it came back bad now he could have it, he is 7 now. My vet also did a culture of the bacteria as it wasnt responding to the normal antibiotics. Just a thought as the bone flap is pretty drastic and if you can get away with not having it done, it may be worth trying Baytril.

 

[SpeedDemon]

Hi my boy had this done in November and he still isn't right. Where is he having it done? I was worried about the GA but that went fine. He stayed at the hospital for just over a week and was in for 4 weeks in total. He was on Baytril for over four weeks but his discharge wasn't clearing up so he was swabbed and went onto an injectible which cleared it up. Nearly a month later he had a slightly dirty nose just on the side he was operated on. He has been swabbed again but this time it's not bringing anything nasty up so don't know what we're trying to treat! He's been on powders for over two weeks and is going back next week for xrays and to be flushed out everyday. The scar has healed up really well, you can't hardly see it unless you know where to look. I haven't got a pic afterwards yet but I do have one on my phone of when the staples were in. That looked pretty nasty but did the job! let me know if you want anymore info as it is all quite fresh in my mind still!

 

[parsley]

Thanks for your reply

He is going to Hawkendon neary Bury St Edmunds. The vet said to me that he might get a runny nose again but that it wouldn't be putrid like it is now. He has to stay at the vets for 3 to 4 weeks, which seems longer than average, but the vet said he wants to do a good job of keeping it clean