tendon sheath inflammation

digitalangel

digitalangel

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My horse has inflammation on tendon sheath on left hind.

It started as an oedema on both back legs, but one went down and the other didnt. He was also ill with a sheath (willy) infection.

Have started 10 days box rest, code hose, bandages+gamgee and bute, will recheck again and discuss scan.

Can someone give me an idea on normal recovery times, how this injury could have been avoided and causes of this kind of injury? Hes been ill since xmas so i have no idea how on earth this has happened. He has not been ridden since early december. hes normally quiet in the field and has individual turnout.

Also how successful is recovery? He is being used to dressage and Sj.
 
My boy is just coming back into work from this. Had a spill jumping and the vet thinks he twisted it - bit scary for a while as he was hopping lame. Baz was admitted to horspital as he was so lame and they ultrasounded him (twice), xrays x 7 and two fluid taps. They thought he may have an infected tendon because it was so swollen and he was so lame. He is, however, a complete wuss and was practically sound two days later. Think he just likes going on holiday to the vets ;-)

He was in the vets for 4 days and since coming out he's had two weeks of full box rest and then they advised two weeks of walking in hand but he proved too much of a handful so I have been walking him under saddle for about 10 minutes or so. Vet coming out again end of the week to hopefully give us the all clear to start 'proper' work.

While he's been in the box he's been cold hosed daily and bandaged. He was also on bute but has been completely off it for the past couple of weeks and appears sound (fingers crossed).

I would imagine the recovery time would be entirely dependant on the severity of the initial injury. The vets did advise me that they felt he should make a good recovery and they know I want to event him and said that there should be no reason in his case why not - but every case is different.

Hope everything turns out well for you - I know how worrying it can be.
x
 
thanks so much!

my boy is a big wuss too - when he bruised his sole he was crippled! i thought he had seriously broken something or had an abcess but he recovered really quickly.

How swollen was your boys leg? mines up around his pastern - just looks like a filled leg really - doesnt help that he has windpuffs as well - might be related? the swelling is around the front of the pastern - it looks Ok from the side.

Im lucky my boy is pretty good on box rest, provided he can still see all the goings-on at the yard.

How long did it take for the swelling to go down? My boys has been swollen for weeks, but it disappeared with exercise until this week.
 
hi Digital Angel. My horse has been affected with tendon sheath inflammation following a peck on landing over a steeplechase fence at a 3 day event a couple of years ago. He didn't become lame on it and as he had always had filled back legs and wingalls I didn't notice it immediately. Of course whilst we were away for the duration of the event (4 days) my horse was not turned out but had a temporary stable so I was not surprised that his windgalls had swollen. However after arriving back home on the last day of the event, being turned out for a couple of hours I arrived the next day at the yard to see his fetlock was badly swollen so cold hosed it and called the vet. The vet diagnosed tendon sheath inflammation after scanning the tendon which was initially treated by myself with cold hosing and ice packs and bandaging.

The vet injected something into his fetlock (presume it was HA or some kind of steroid) and he needed about 5 weeks box rest which in the latter weeks involved controlled exercise i.e horsewalker, in hand walking, etc leading eventually to walking under saddle, trotting for ten mins, etc in a gradual build up. It would be safe to say that the total layoff time from diagnosis of injury to being back in full work was 2 months.
 
The swelling had gone down within the week in the main, however he is still left with a fairly minor windgall - but can be a little prone to them so not too worried (will get the vets opinion end of the week). It does seem to ease a little with exercise - guess it gets everything moving again!

It was really badly swollen (almost double in size!!) around his pastern but with pressure bandaging and cold hosing it reduced really quickly - think the bute also helped a bit too.

He was really in the wars the day it happened - after we had the fall jumping (when the vets think he did it), he then had a bit of an episode in the back of the trailer and yanked his other hind shoe off. As mentioned he's a wuss so he was actually bearing all his weight on the leg with the inflammed sheath for a couple of days until I got the farrier out and was hopping lame on the one with no shoe. Came sound almost instantly after the shoe was put on and then the following day was walking around as if the leg with the infected sheath was about to drop off. It had been swollen for the duration but thought it was just filled because he wasn't moving around due to being footsore. He did the injury on the Sunday and the vet was called on Thursday and admitted him straight away. He was nearly fully sound (1/10th lame!!) by the Saturday.

Like I said though I think that each case is different but fingers crossed everything will be fine with your lad (and mine!!)
 
applecart - your story sounds *very* similar to mine - thanks so so much for posting it.

Is your boy sound now? what are the long term effects or tendon sheath inflammation?

cazzah! hah! my boy is the same without his hind shoes as well! He was very sore walking to the hose this morning, but *much* better after the hose, but i can still tell he is lame because i can hear it ( if that makes sense? the sound of his footfalls are uneven ) There is no change in swelling just yet, however ive just bought some kaolin and im going to freeze that and wrap it on in between hosings.
 
My horse had this injury in the autumn. He had 2 weeks cold hosing and bandaging, then had a scan to confirm that only had tenosynovitis of the digital tendon sheath (Left hind). He then had 4 injections, weekly, of cartrophen and a further 8 weeks box rest but hacking out in straight lines for 20-30 mins a day gradually increasing after 4 weeks and hand grazing each day. I then started lunging and schooling and turn out for about an hour. it has now gone down completly. He was sound throughout too!
 
Hi, my mare did this in October, I started riding in December after box rest and walking in hand. She had an injection into the tendon sheath of steroid and a lubricant substance.

Shes sound now, back out in the field and I'm jumping her for the first time again on Sunday - I've probably been extra cautious about how long to wait until jumping.

Mine was absolutly hopping lame, would not put her foot down. The tendon sheath on the scan was a thick black band of about 1- 1 1/2inches wide.
 
wow thanks so much for your replies everyone. its good to know they can return to work after a couple of months.

I took some pics this morning, sorry for the poor quality :/

without bandage
n640676245_1914578_4757.jpg


with cold kaolin poultice, fibergy and stable bandage.

n640676245_1914579_1489.jpg


Anyway as you can hopefully see, its the pastern and the fetlock.

Is this a similar swelling to what you guys have experienced?
 
Yes, although mine was bigger and really clearly defined to the tendon sheath, the swelling didn't extend around the front of the fetlock. Will have to see if I have any photos.

I can take photos of how it looks now?

BTW, I never hosed my girl at all, she was bandaged behind by the vet after the fluid tap, then again after the medication. Once the needle holes were healed she was stable bandaged behind the whole time.

We did walking in hand starting at 5 mins twice a day building up to 40mins twice a day before being able to get back on.

What treatment has your vet suggested? Mine implied that without treatment the chances of coming sound were slim, and there were two treatment methods, the medication into the tendon sheath which is effective in the majority, or surgical intervention to fix any damage.
 
hi crazymare

that worrying! My vet advised for 10 days
1x bute per day
box rest
2x 20 min cold hose
kaolin poultice ( cold ) in between.

these are some pics from this morning. there hasnt really been much/any change in the swelling thus far

n640676245_1919201_9313.jpg


side view:

n640676245_1919203_6424.jpg


As you can see the swelling is confined only to the front. The vet also didnt mention which tendon sheath was inflamed ( extensor or flexor? ) so perhaps its a different tendon? I have *no idea*

im really worried now!!
 
Baz's was much more swollen - it was almost twice normal size and extended almost half way up his cannon bone!!

I've had the vet today (four weeks later) - he's declared him sound!! Will take him back to York for another ultrasound just to be on the safe side before I start much more work. He's still got a little windgall but the vet didn't seem worried about this and thinks it may go completely with more exercise or could have a steroid injection. Prognosis looks good - just keep persevering!!
xx
 
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