Soft tissue damage in pastern/foot

[K9Wendy]

Our little mare has been on box rest for 3 weeks as she was lame, vet thought soft tissue damage in pastern/foot area. We had her at the vet this morning, he nerve blocked the fetlock and she went sound immediately. All x-rays were clear, so she is to go on a further 3 months box rest.

My question, what exactly is soft tissue damage? Vet said the tendons appeared fine, there has never been swelling or heat.

 

[jomiln]

We had a horse in last year with soft tissue damage in the foot. Xrays showed no bony damage. The exact location of the damage was never known but with rest and hydrotherapy the horse came sound again.

 

[brightmount]

The pastern and foot are complex with many soft structures, tendons, ligaments and cartilage, and your diagnosis is very vague, however the treatment you have been recommended will generally allow soft tissue damage to heal, provided the foot is kept well balanced by the farrier or podiatrist.

If you have insurance you could have ultrasound of the pastern or MRI of the foot for a more accurate picture of what's going on, though the recommended treatment will probably be the same - box rest followed by a controlled and gradual return to work.

This is a useful link for an explanation of the horse's physiology if you wade through it to find the bits relevant to you:

http://www.infovets.com/healthyhorseinfo/E406.htm

 

[K9Wendy]

Thank you for your replies, box rest seems to be what the vet says will do the treat, he says it will heal it's self and that nature will take care of it like that. I asked about support boots, ointments etc and he said there was no need, it would just make me feel better! She is happy enough on box rest, and a 5 minute walk per day. If we had a small area of grass where she can graze without getting into a tizzy she is allowed that but at the minute she will stay inside.

Her farrier put the shoe back on this morning (vet took off for x-rays), vet said her feet and shoes were perfect and no need for adjustment there. Seems he think to have been caused by hard ground!

That's an intersting article, thank you..

 

[Fiona]

Nothing to add sadly re diagnosis - just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear this and hope she makes a full recovery.
Fiona

 

[brightmount]

Just to add, if you don't see an improvement in a few weeks, ask the vet about nerve blocking lower down. Nerve blocking the fetlock eliminates everything below it, hence your vet diagnosing either the pastern or foot. If, for example, the horse had navicular, indicated by a palmar digital nerve block or injecting the navicular bursa, box rest might not necessarily be the route to go down. (This is just hypothetical, don't panic!).

There's an informative article on the different nerve blocks on H&H:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/horsecare/1370/55990.html

 

[Petrie]

Soft tissue damage could be bruising.

You should be pleased, it's a good thing that's all it is!