Stifle arthroscopy

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Hi; my horse is going in for one of these in a weeks time & have read as much is humanly possible but wondered if anyone had anything else to add from 1st hand experience.

Its being done after inconclusive tests on her right stifle causing lameness. No idea why basically! Hoping the found something fixable! But she's loving the field life atm & is field sound off bute which is a plus !
 
ilvpippa said:
Hi; my horse is going in for one of these in a weeks time & have read as much is humanly possible but wondered if anyone had anything else to add from 1st hand experience.

Its being done after inconclusive tests on her right stifle causing lameness. No idea why basically! Hoping the found something fixable! But she's loving the field life atm & is field sound off bute which is a plus !
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Hi, sorry to hear you're going through this. Not knowing is a hard thing to work with. I had a TBX mare and she was lame for months with no one being able to tell me what was wrong. It was totally random and I suspected it was from her running aroud like a nutter in a field in front of the boys when in season! I had 3 vets say it was her back and she had months of physio and box rest. Still was't right so I got Alastair from Rainbow Equine in Malton (sadly passed away a few years ago - what an amazing vet he was) and he did a scan on her - she had a hole/tear in her stifle. He did say that box rest wouldn't help her as she got too wound up and ended up doing more damage, plus she had to be kept mobile to aid her ongoing healing.

He treated her with ultrasound twice a week for 2 months and then she was to have complete field rest for 6 months. After that she had 3 months of long reining in straight lines down the road in walk, then slowly introducing a trot. After 3 months she could go in the school for light long reining, then after another 3 months I could ride her. I started riding her and bringing her back into work in the June, by the Dec I had got back up to doing local show jumping again.

She made a full recovery and had many more years of cross country (her fave thing), hacks and schooling before sadly having to be PTS for something totally unrelated. I know it was a long recovery process but she never ever showed lameness after that, nor did she have stiffness or pain in her stifle.

Good luck with your horse and I hope you get a diagonsis soon so you can crack on with a treatment plan. xx
 
Thankyou for that; it's really difficult not knowing what's wrong with her. This is last chance really to find out what's wrong with her, as she's had several X-rays; scans & nerve blocks.
It's been on since April after she was kicked but no bone chips were found; but there going to flush the joint incase there is anything really small there. She's had box rest which she was allowed out 25% but she kept breaking out so she's living out & had shoes taken off.

I hope I get answers
 
Hope you get some answers soon. Rio is having his arthoscopy in two weeks time after being lame since March. Had scans and xrays and all that shows is a thickened cartilage so we are going in to take a closer look. Trouble is he can't be box rested to recover so we will have to think of alternatives.
 
I will let you know when she's had the surgery undecided.
I'm very nervous but my fabulous vet is the one anaesthetising her & an RVC surgeon is coming to do it so she's in the best hands.
I hope I get some answers
 
My boy was 12, bilateral lameness. Had a full lameness work up and nerve blocks, found stifles were the problem. I was given the options of athroscopy or turn away for a year and hope he comes back sound (not an option in my mind) So ahead i went with the surgery.

The surgery itself went as well as it could have surgeon said i had a very good chance of getting him back to how he was, a fit competition horse. You really do have to think of the bigger picture here. The surgery itself, although invasive, is nowadays quite a routine procedure but the aftercare is paramount. Quietness and control is key for the full recovery. Has your vet fully talked you through the aftercare? Mine didnt and i feel this was where it all went wrong, in my shock and upset i just agreed with the vets.

My boy couldnt handle the box rest and inhand walking. We had several incident including him going up and over on himself inhand, almost taking me with him! Vet then said he could go out in a 12x12 pen. He jumped out, went crazy and fell over again. I tried absolutley everything, i really did.

2 weeks ago, 7 months after the op the vet came out to declare he was to be retired. He is for now field sound but im not sure for how long, what his future holds, or what exactly i am supposed to do with a 13 year old retired horse. Although of course he has a home for life with me and is the most beautiful field ornament anyone could wish for!

Just to add there was another horse in for the same op on the same day with the same surgeon and he is now fully sound and in full work. My lad just had too much stacked against him.

Please talk, talk and talk again about after care. Its where it went wrong for me :(
 
First of all, if your horse is already field sound then that's really positive :)

I had a horse that fell with me in the school; after 3 months of box rest, the vets eventually agreed with me that the problem was his stifle - he had an arthroscopy & he'd torn his meniscus; they cleaned up what they could & sent him home. We started off with box rest and ridden walking exercise but after a week of this he was becoming dangerous, and he was also too dangerous to walk in hand, so we tried paddock rest, starting with a taped off field the size of a stable and increasing it until he could go out in a large field.

Sadly he was a hugely strung horse who was never going to be quiet enough to let the injury heal; and after 9 months of paddock rest he was as lame as at the start (3-4/10 on a straight line) so I made the decision to have him PTS.

If you have a quiet and docile horse who copes well with box rest and walking in hand then the prognosis is far far better.
 
Thanks guys; yes she does cope well in the stable; generally fine walking just jogs abit & annoys me!! It's purely to eat grass though.

Yes so far I'm award that 2 weeks box rest & if they find something than more will follow etc,

I just want the surgery over with & to be told she's up & well
 
Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. My lad maybe going to the same op depending on how his next work up goes. However I have spoke to the vet about long term sedation in case he gets wired and too much to handle. I'm surprised this wasn't offered to you as an option.
From what I can gage, exercise after the op varies from vet to vet
 
Hey; they found her cartlidge was all really soft & damaged; and a tear in her meniscus. Am waiting for the visiting surgeons report still for a more in depth knowledge. She's really sore today :( spent a lot lying down. Hot, bothered & bored :( she's passing droppings etc so there keeping a close eye on her. They will give me a ring in the morning :). Although I feel I want more time to speak to the vet as she's always so busy when she rings me! I rang tonight as I was worried about her but not heard anything- i know there all very busy today. I'm going to ask her to write everything down when she's discharged.
 
Head vet nurse just called & she's more brighter tonight which is a relief :). Having her dressing off tomorrow @ pain relief. She's still sore but much happier :).
Yes 2 weeks box rest then a further 2 months with 10minutes of walking a day. Then steroid injections & then see how she is re upping work. Bye bye summer :(
 
Hey!
She's having her stitches out on Tuesday morning & being 'walked up' to see what my fab vet thinks. From reading the notes; if there not happy another 6 weeks without walking could be on the cards :( however I'm remaining positive as she is looking great. Last bute this morning too!

Not been all drama free; had to have my vet out the morning after she came home as wasn't Weight baring but after a bute injection they think she knocked it doing moves rolling in her fresh straw bed!
 
My horse had a bilateral stifle arthroscopy last December. They found partial thickness cartilage damage to both stifles in the medial femoral condyle, the area was around 4mm x 8mm in diameter in both and he had slight blistering elsewhere from the inflammation. They debrided the loose/damaged cartilage. There were no tears to ligaments or tendons. IRAP was strongly recommended and we went down this road. Recovery was completely textbook, we had no issues whatsoever. He had 2 weeks complete box rest once discharged, followed by a further 4 weeks of box rest with 3 x 10 minute walks in hand per day (LOTS of ACP's were needed). He had 3 lots of IRAP every 2 weeks, 2 weeks after the surgery and was put on Cosequin almost immediately. At the end of the 6 weeks he trotted up sound and was allowed 12 x 12m paddock rest for a further 7 weeks. He was still sound 7 weeks later (so this was the 13 week mark) and it was then I could get back on. We then basically hacked for 3 months starting at 10 minutes and building up to 45 minutes over the first 4 weeks, in month 2 we started trotting, and in month 3 we continued increasing the trotting, hacking, slight hills etc etc, dont think I cantered until around month 4, and it's only now that I'm schooling properly again, but still not doing anything smaller than a 20m circle and only doing very baby lateral movements. Can I ask why you're going down the steroid route and not IRAP? IRAP is fantastic and well worth doing if you have that option.
 
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Hey; it could well be that what's being injected; I've not spoken to much about it as of yet as we're not at that stage yet. She had 6 entries into her stifle with the arthroscope (apparently quite rare) but they wanted a good route around. She's had the stitches out today and bless her still sore & foot sore till shoes go back on tomorrow so another 6 weeks box rest (she's just done 2 weeks) then start walking after that building up to 40 mins walking. Which is where we are going to inject her: this plan was done by her surgeon roger smith who's amazing so I trust his judgement :) She's a little sore still but she had her tear cut & tidied plus she was very much poked & prodded! All I know that she had damaged cartilage debraided & then she has soft inflamed cartilage which showed on going pathology.
 
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