Tie - Back Reversal

[Mon G]

Hi again everyone,

I have a horse that had the tie-back surgery done in his racing days (before I had him, he is now 10.

He has had a few complications since I have purchased him (recently had to have a cracked tooth removed, which caused a sinus infection).

In a seperate issue, the vet has scoped him and noticed that large amount of feed is going into his trachea, causing him to cough and feed material to come out his nose, the vet has said that she would consider reversing the tie-back surgery. So my question is, does anyone have experience with reversing the tie back surgery this long after the initial tie back surgery was performed and what would the complications look like?

Thank you

 

[ycbm]

My biggest worry with it will be that you will have a horse with a paralysed larnyx obstructing his airway and that you've no idea before undoing it how bad his breathing will be. He may be only just able to trot or canter, as one of the two I had was. He may also become more edgy. The one I had operated on became less spooky once he knew he could breath. The surgeon who operated told me, although it wasn't true in my case, that they are often difficult to put weight on.

I've no idea how bad it will be to try to take out the embedded ligature holding the larynx back, but there's a scar on the outside of the neck when they put it in, so it's buried in the neck even if it can be snipped where it runs over the larynx (assuming it isn't embedded in that).

You won't be insured for it, of course.

Sorry not to sound more encouraging. Please let us know what you decide.
.

 

[Mon G]

My biggest worry with it will be that you will have a horse with a paralysed larnyx obstructing his airway and that you've no idea before undoing it how bad his breathing will be. He may be only just able to trot or canter, as one of the two I had was. He may also become more edgy. The one I had operated on became less spooky once he knew he could breath. The surgeon who operated told me, although it wasn't true in my case, that they are often difficult to put weight on.

I've no idea how bad it will be to try to take out the embedded ligature holding the larynx back, but there's a scar on the outside of the neck when they put it in, so it's buried in the neck even if it can be snipped where it runs over the larynx (assuming it isn't embedded in that).

You won't be insured for it, of course.

Sorry not to sound more encouraging. Please let us know what you decide.
I’m

My biggest worry with it will be that you will have a horse with a paralysed larnyx obstructing his airway and that you've no idea before undoing it how bad his breathing will be. He may be only just able to trot or canter, as one of the two I had was. He may also become more edgy. The one I had operated on became less spooky once he knew he could breath. The surgeon who operated told me, although it wasn't true in my case, that they are often difficult to put weight on.

I've no idea how bad it will be to try to take out the embedded ligature holding the larynx back, but there's a scar on the outside of the neck when they put it in, so it's buried in the neck even if it can be snipped where it runs over the larynx (assuming it isn't embedded in that).

You won't be insured for it, of course.

Sorry not to sound more encouraging. Please let us know what you decide.
.

Thank you so much for your reply, this is definitely a concern for me and I don’t want him to undergo surgery again if it isn’t necessary. My vet just contacted me and spoke with another surgeon and said that he will see if he is eligible for the hyaluronic acid injection? So I’m going to go down this path I think!

 

[SEL]

The pony I had tie back surgery on could barely trot for 5 minutes before it and she'd be companion status only now if I hadn't had it done.

Are you feeding off the floor? I never use haynets.

 

[Mon G]

The pony I had tie back surgery on could barely trot for 5 minutes before it and she'd be companion status only now if I hadn't had it done.

Are you feeding off the floor? I never use haynets.

Thank you for your reply! Yes so I feed him from the floor only, wet his food down and now after another thread I did, also wet his hay biscuits down. The vet called my just a little while ago and suggested to inject hyaluronic acid and undergoing surgery as a last resort?

 

[little_critter]

What is the hyaluronic acid supposed to do?

 

[Mon G]

What is the hyaluronic acid supposed to do?

From my understanding it creates a bulge that helps prevents the food from entering into the trachea. They do a study before hand using dyed food to see how it’s entering into the trachea and then they create the ‘bulge’ unsure of the technical term, to prevent the feed coming in.

 

[CJoe]

Hi again everyone,

I have a horse that had the tie-back surgery done in his racing days (before I had him, he is now 10.

He has had a few complications since I have purchased him (recently had to have a cracked tooth removed, which caused a sinus infection).

In a seperate issue, the vet has scoped him and noticed that large amount of feed is going into his trachea, causing him to cough and feed material to come out his nose, the vet has said that she would consider reversing the tie-back surgery. So my question is, does anyone have experience with reversing the tie back surgery this long after the initial tie back surgery was performed and what would the complications look like?

Thank you

my horse has had a tieback and also laser ops on sinus and excessive skin in his throat....it's pretty common for him to leak a bit of food out of his nose or cough if he is distracted whilst eating from the floor. I would be concerned that a reversal won't really give you much but problems with his breathing, if retired it may suit but if ridden I would think very carefully about the potential pitfalls x

 

[ycbm]

From my understanding it creates a bulge that helps prevents the food from entering into the trachea. They do a study before hand using dyed food to see how it’s entering into the trachea and then they create the ‘bulge’ unsure of the technical term, to prevent the feed coming in.

Sounds like an option worth a try.
.

 

[GypsGal1718]

Whatever you decide I hope it goes well