Stifle ligament keyhole surgery...

[tasel]

Ok, according to the ultrasound, my mare must have torn one of her stifle ligaments at some point. This has now healed - but not "properly"... well, on the ultrasound, it wasn't white like the healthy parts but sort of dotted.

Anyway, vet said that she may need surgery if she doesn't improve. This would be keyhole surgery to go and look at this area and to "clean it up".

Has anyone had any experience with this at all??? Just wanted to know what exactly would happen? Any success stories?

Any post would be appreciated...

 

[Zambo]

Which Ligament?

 

[tasel]

Probably the meniscal ligaments (is that the one more towards the inside?)...

 

[Rollin]

In homo sapiens keyhole surgery is 'non-invasive' i.e it does not involve making an incision. The operation is performed using an endoscope which is inserted via a hole in the skin to view the site of the injury. I believe that the stifle in a horse is like the human knee.

Keyhole surgery for people has been used with success for many years to repair ligaments or repair meniscal tears in the knee.

I would ask who will do the op and how much experience they have of keyhole surgery, success rates etc. How long will the procedure take and what the post op recovery regime will involve.

 

[hallarider]

Hi

My horse had an arthroscopy back in March to remove a bone chip in his hock and to tidy up his stifle joint. Both were done with key hole surgery. He doesn't have any scars at all now. They were tiny incisions. It cost £3500 and he stayed at the vets for four days as there is a risk of infection after the operation. Sadly hes still lame but this is different to your horse. Hes now diagnosed with OCD.

Good luck

 

[tasel]

hallarider - sorry to hear that. I am a bit worried about my horse as I haven't read many good prognosis with horses that got lame due to stifle injuries. According to the x-rays, nothing's wrong with her... but the ultrasound confirmed it was the ligaments.

 

[Zambo]

Sorry long time no reply, my pony has a meniscal ligament, he ended up having 2 yrs off in the field, (long story).

The vet is very pleased (and without scaring you the vet had another case where they did operate and this horse came out worse than my boy...although I must stress that it can vary from horse to horse!), although he will only ever be a light hack, and he can canter, as this will put less strain on his stifle than trotting, I have also known him since birth and my vet stressed that I will prob know before my pony if he is going to have a couple of days when he is a little more sore and only paddock sound!!!

Anyway you've probably made your decision, I hope it all goes well.