Suspensory ligament - is shockwave necessary?

J

jasperc163

Member
Joined
8 October 2004
Messages
21
Visit site
Following on from some other posts. My mare was scanned this morning and has about a 10% tear in a front suspensory (looks like its about half way down?), with some early evidence of healing on the scan (she did it 2-3 weeks ago). She is out in a small area as pretty much retired and wont tolerate box rest, bandaged, one danilon a day and having pulsed magnetic treatment twice a day. Vet seems pretty positive but isnt really pusing the shockwave as it would be very tricky for me to manage (toddler with no childcare backup, no transport and horse that wont load on her own anymore without alot of trouble).

I've seen a few vets with mobile shockwave units on internet, but alas none near me.
All i want to be able to do is give her quality of life and have the odd hack but of course i want to do all i can to achieve that and i'm worried i should be doing the shockwave - i keep reading posts that say suspensory damage wont heal without it?!! Am assuming noone has had major success with pulsed magnetic therapy as no replies on my other thread.

thanks alot
alice

ps how bad is 10%?!
 
My understanding is that shockwave is most effective when there are insertional injuries ie where the ligament connects to the bone. So if the injury is half way down it may be not so effective? Also, if only 10% damaged it should heal pretty well on its own, especially if there is evidence of it already doing so. The shockwave may accelerate the healing process and if it was a competition horse would probably be worth doing. However if you are only wanting her to be pasture / hacking sound I would carry on as you are doing. You might want to consider a suplement to help ligament healing eg linseed or MSM - no hard evidence that they do much but might make you feel as if you are doing all you can. Good luck
smile.gif
 
Thanks kanter
She is already on a high level Glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM supplement (for her arthritis in hind legs). Glad you think 10% doesnt sound too bad
 
I wouldn't have thought 10% was unrepairable at all TBH!

The greatest healer for these injuries after the initial treatment is time, nothing more, nothing less and the more time you can give it the better. Years ago there was no magnetic or shockwave treatment and properly monitored, you can have fantastic results without it, you just need patience! Years ago I was given a mare which was as bad to be a put down job. The trouble was compounded because she had been smothered in cooling lotion after her race which had burnt her skin badly so we had to wait until that had healed before we could even look at the tendon. She was on box rest for 7 weeks, bute only until the burns had healed so she wasn't tempted to use leg, then cold packs as often as possible. I found a Bonner Bandage to be a fantastic investment (Tophorse on here has borrowed mine but if she's finished with it you are welcome to borrow it too if you haven't one of your own. PM her to see if she's finished with it yet) and that made a fantastic difference. She was then turned out 24/7 and was field sound 6 months from the injury ;she could have been ridden again with the year.
Hope this helps.
 
I'm sure I have read recently that these days controlled exercise is considered to make a huge difference in helping suspensory injuries heal (I described ours in my reply to catherineanne' post). However I am no expert on all the different types of suspensory injury and am ready to be corrected on this. Good luck with your mare. Jo x
 
It is Suspensory damage on the hind legs (PSD) that won't heal without help. My horse has now done her front suspensory, but on the medial branch and also ripped a piece of the sesamoid bone off. I was told that Shockwave won't work very well on the branches, it works better higher up. So on the advice of the vet she has been turned out in a field 24/7. She'll probably be there 6 months.

She did it about 3 weeks ago and has gone from completly crippled - we originally thought she had broken her fetlock, to totally sound in a straight line and slightly lame on a circle.

Have you seen any improvement in yours?
 
thank you so much everyone for the replies. You have made me feel a whole heap better :-) Even though she is semi retired she's the only horse i have left and i'm a bit paranoid about the situation as i lost my beautiful gelding to a freak fence accident in the same field 6 months ago. Glad to hear as well that plenty of horses being turned out - esp yours Dieseldog - as the injury is about the same age (she went from being slightly off, to head nodding in walk a few days later, now nearly sound in trot in straight line but trips sometimes which i assume is the leg giving way. However leg still has some noticeable swelling down the inside of the canon bone. The other leg is also suspect now though nothing on the scan.)

Pat - thanks a load re the Bonner bandage. I will look into it. I assume you only leave them on 15 mins rather than 24/7? (would be fab to find something supportive that removed the need for bandaging in the field in the rain!!)

Really appreciate the support
alice
 
Mine has absolutly no swelling or heat, only showed up on a scan after she got nerve blocked to work out where she was lame. I was hoping for pus in the foot
wink.gif
 
Yes we all hope for an abscess dont we! Sounds a bit different then as i had clear swelling and still have clearly enlarged vein down inside of leg. Did vet talk about % damage? I assume not bad if no external sign?
 
it's PSD that needs shockwave. PSD is an inflammation of the insertion of the suspensory ligament on the cannon bone right at the very top, just below the knee/hock. it really doesn't respond to just rest and controlled exercise - they just go lame again when they come back into work.

injuries to the body of the suspensory dont need shockwave, just rest and controlled exercise. with a competition horse you would go for box rest and in-hand walking, but with a retired horse turnout is acceptable and should result in good enough healing for paddock soundness. normally a horse would be out of full work for a year or so.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Yes we all hope for an abscess dont we! Sounds a bit different then as i had clear swelling and still have clearly enlarged vein down inside of leg. Did vet talk about % damage? I assume not bad if no external sign?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really %age damage. It showed up as honeycombed on the scan and even I could see the bone fragment. From what my vet was saying you don't normally get swelling with a suspensory as it is inside the leg and not visible from the outside.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top