Torn suspensory ligament 5 months in and no improvement!

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Bess01

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Hi, as above really, does anyone have any advice or stories of encouragement? My girl was diagnosed at the end of April after nearly a month of trying to get a correct diagnosis. She has torn the outer branch of lower suspensory. She was in for the first month with 5mins twice a day walking in hand building up to 10mins twice a day by the end of the month. Vet came out and although she was much better trotting up, when we lunged on hard ground she was terrible no improvement - she was 5/10 lame. Vet said to go back to just 5mins twice a day and if I could find a very small (only about twice the size of her stable) she could go out. I carried on with the walking (no turn out) and checked her again myself on the hard ground after another month, still no improvement! So the past month she has been out for about 4 hours per day in her postage stamp of a field and in the rest of the time. Yesterday I got the vet back out and she is 4/10 lame still hopping really (only on circle). Vet thinks I should turn her away for 6 months, but I am worried she will do more damage as I believe she did the injury bombing round the field in the first place! So do I carry on with what I am doing and hope for the best or turn her away...Thanks for reading
 
I think I would want a scan to see what is going on, being lame may show it has not yet healed but I would want to see if any healing has taken place after the 5 months of rest, that way you can make more of an informed choice as to what is the best route to take, ligaments do take a long while to recover, if they ever do fully, so turning away may be the best option as long as nothing else is going on to cause her to remain lame, I don't think carrying on hoping for the best is in her best interests as she is still so lame.
 
ester said:
Has the vet talked about treatment options other than rest?
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Has the horse had no treatment at all OP ?
Fatty did this injury he was never lame , he had four months book rest with icing every day he had shock wave and lasering and injections of adequan .
That was five years ago he's still hunting .
 
no scans done since the original diagnosis, I have been thinking about a rescan. i might get them to come back out, but the vet didn't offer it. She has had no treatment as I was told it was too far down for Shockwave to help at all, and it was just down to rest and controlled exercise. I did get roller shoes put on her on the advise of the vets to help with the breakover but I am not sure how much they have helped if at all. She was barefoot before and now I am regretting putting them on.
 
I thought that might be the case re. shockwave, my Mum's mare had PRP though we also weren't sure when it happened because she wasn't really very lame (and suspensory was damaged rather than torn if that makes sense). I'm surprised they haven't re scanned though- that would be more normal than checking for lameness to monitor progress, ours was scanned on every visit.
I would take shoes off tbh. This mare was shod but we took the opportunity to give her feet a break.
 
Thanks Ester, I think I will get her re scanned and then if she really hasn't improved take the shoes off and turn her away for six months. Can they scan at the yard or do you have to go to a "hospital"? :)
 
no cold therapy, I was told that kind of thing is best done when the injury first happens, do you think it would be worth while? she has never had any heat or swelling? thanks
 
Bess01 said:
Thanks Ester, I think I will get her re scanned and then if she really hasn't improved take the shoes off and turn her away for six months. Can they scan at the yard or do you have to go to a "hospital"? :)
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You can have it done at the yard but often they get a better picture at the vets.
 
Bess01 said:
no cold therapy, I was told that kind of thing is best done when the injury first happens, do you think it would be worth while? she has never had any heat or swelling? thanks
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My vet is a big believer in cold therapy and we keep it going for a long long time a year in one case .
We use bonner bandages which we cool in cool boxes of water and ice kept out the stable .
Has the horse any pain on palpation ? It he has I would defiantly be doing cold therapy .
 
Hi Goldenstar, no pain on palpation, she never has in this case, the only reason I noticed she was lame was when I lunged her and she was off on one rein but the other fine, and ridden felt fine. I think thats why it took so long to find the problem. The vet nerve blocked the whole leg bit by bit and nothing, bone scan, nothing then as a last ditch attempt the vet said she just had a hunch it was lower down in the leg and she nerve blocked again but this time she put loads of block in the most she has ever had to use, then bingo she was sound, then she had the MRI to confirm the damage :(
 
My horse had prp for his damaged suspensory ligament his is the top part that has the hole, and is in his 2nd month of box rest his got one month to go then re scan to see if it's healed, I would get your horse scanned again so you have an idea of what's going on, my vet has told me if after 3 months of rest it's no better surgery is my only option for him am really hoping it won't come to that.:(
 
Our horse has psd in his hinds mild so we are resting in during day then out on postage stamp overnight. Also using a Arc Equine unit to see if it helps. Then controlled rehab and re scan if this does not work other options are prp or operation. Shockwave has limited effect.

Pinkyboots you are on second month of box rest and our vet only recommends one after prp. I wish vets all sang from the same hymn sheet !

There is a very good group on PSD on facebook worth joining they are very informative and a nice group to chat with.
 
lori ann said:
Our horse has psd in his hinds mild so we are resting in during day then out on postage stamp overnight. Also using a Arc Equine unit to see if it helps. Then controlled rehab and re scan if this does not work other options are prp or operation. Shockwave has limited effect.

Pinkyboots you are on second month of box rest and our vet only recommends one after prp. I wish vets all sang from the same hymn sheet !

There is a very good group on PSD on facebook worth joining they are very informative and a nice group to chat with.
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I know I was shocked when he said 3 months I expected 2 at the most, his got quite a lesion so I think they wanted to give it the best chance, they thought he had psd but the other leg is clear so it's just a nasty injury, I was putting him out in a field the size of a stable for a few hours and he was doing okay but this week his started rearing so I might have to stop putting him out if his going to be silly I can't risk him damaging it further. Is your horse sound now?
 
Bess01 said:
Hi, as above really, does anyone have any advice or stories of encouragement? My girl was diagnosed at the end of April after nearly a month of trying to get a correct diagnosis. She has torn the outer branch of lower suspensory. She was in for the first month with 5mins twice a day walking in hand building up to 10mins twice a day by the end of the month. Vet came out and although she was much better trotting up, when we lunged on hard ground she was terrible no improvement - she was 5/10 lame. Vet said to go back to just 5mins twice a day and if I could find a very small (only about twice the size of her stable) she could go out. I carried on with the walking (no turn out) and checked her again myself on the hard ground after another month, still no improvement! So the past month she has been out for about 4 hours per day in her postage stamp of a field and in the rest of the time. Yesterday I got the vet back out and she is 4/10 lame still hopping really (only on circle). Vet thinks I should turn her away for 6 months, but I am worried she will do more damage as I believe she did the injury bombing round the field in the first place! So do I carry on with what I am doing and hope for the best or turn her away...Thanks for reading
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Sorry to hear this. My horse has had a slight sprain of the lateral branch of the suspensory on his near fore and then a couple of years later on the medial branch of his off fore and has recovered from both now, but it was quite a long process. He has PRP in the near fore after shockwave proved unsuccesful. It worked very well and then he tweaked it again in a horrific accident very narrowly escaping a broken leg at the time, and it all swelled up again.

My horse was worse on the right rein when lunging/riding although his injury was on his near fore/near hind and the vet said this is due to them pushing off with these legs on the right circle. In the end a low dose of bute given over time, excellent hoof balance by the farrier, bringing back into work slowly in line with the vets expectations including constant reassessment by the vet was what was needed.

But my horses injury was not a tear, but only a 'slight sprain'. He barely shows a problem on the right rein now although it was quite noticeable at one point. A lot of it was due to lack of muscle following injury and only by gently reusing the muscle groups and using a good physio did he come right.
 
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Pinkvboots said:
I know I was shocked when he said 3 months I expected 2 at the most, his got quite a lesion so I think they wanted to give it the best chance, they thought he had psd but the other leg is clear so it's just a nasty injury, I was putting him out in a field the size of a stable for a few hours and he was doing okay but this week his started rearing so I might have to stop putting him out if his going to be silly I can't risk him damaging it further. Is your horse sound now?
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Yes he is sound and started walking out in hand now but is very difficult will be easier when back under saddle walking then lots and lots of hacking in straight lines . You could consider acp tablets from vets if the box rest becomes to much for him to take the edge of.

if you want stress in your life get a horse !!
 
The best thing I ever did for mine who had bilateral suspensory damage was to take shoes off and turn away for 6 months. He has too much damage to his to ever come back into competitionwork. But two years down the line he is hacking out and light schooling. Turning away was the key for this
 
lori ann said:
Yes he is sound and started walking out in hand now but is very difficult will be easier when back under saddle walking then lots and lots of hacking in straight lines . You could consider acp tablets from vets if the box rest becomes to much for him to take the edge of.

if you want stress in your life get a horse !!
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That's good that his sound, I have been using sedalin but unless I use half a tube it does nothing and it works out quite expensive everyday, I put him in a pen right near the stables this morning and he was fine no silly rearing so I might just have to stick to keeping there, I moved him as the grass is better on the other side of the field but he obviously is not happy there, I imagine it will be real fun when I have to start walking him being an Arab he can have his moments, I hope your horse stays sound x
 
Pinkvboots said:
That's good that his sound, I have been using sedalin but unless I use half a tube it does nothing and it works out quite expensive everyday, I put him in a pen right near the stables this morning and he was fine no silly rearing so I might just have to stick to keeping there, I moved him as the grass is better on the other side of the field but he obviously is not happy there, I imagine it will be real fun when I have to start walking him being an Arab he can have his moments, I hope your horse stays sound x
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Would Zyklene work out cheaper? Here is a link - £59 for 20 days. http://www.******.co.uk/Non-Prescri...s - Dogs [OAID:8]&utm_term=zylkene for horses

Sorry that link didn't work. I will PM you the name.
 
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No advice but my TB was diagnosed with a mild tear in her hind branch in Dec last year.

She was scanned then and is scanned every few months to see how its progressing. She was also given x7 injections of catrophen at the very beginning and we put eggbars on her two hinds.

She was on complete 24/7 box rest from Jan-March and as time has gone on, she’s increased to 5 mins wandering around the barn whilst mucking out, half an hour each day in a sectioned off area outside the barn then onto in hand walking for 10 mins (which was an absolute nightmare as she was like a raging bull and tanked off a few times), then increasing to half our out in field, and now is out 24/7 (apart from bad weather) with her best friend. The very first turn out into the field was done after he scan so she was part sedated. She is the worlds laziest TB and thankfully she returned to her normal slug self after she’d been out for a day as it got to the point of my being unable to lead her.

After the last scan in July the vet gave permission to start riding out to increase the elasticity – walk only of course and due another scan in the next few weeks. She gets ridden once or twice a week. She has a turn out sock on during the day which fastens snugly under her fetlock whilst shes out to and is bandaged when she’s in. When riding she has boots on again which support the fetlock. Not tried trotting and wont be doing this year as just going to keep increasing the time we are out hacking and see what happens next year – totally writing her off this year as don’t want to go backwards after we’ve come so far! Plus there’s no rush – she’s a happy hacker and if I feel like a good gallop I take my other mare out. I know some people like it and other don’t but she’s also on turmeric/pepper and has a joint supplement too.

Think all horses are very different and react in different ways but this seems to have worked for her – the vet has been hugely surprised in how much the scans are improving each time.
 
I had a pony with the same issue, he had 6mths loose in the field and he came back sound even though scans showed it still wasn't 100%. After bringing him back into work he was sold to someone who wanted to hack and do little local shows so he wouldn't be doing any hard work which would make him worse. Quite upsetting as I bought him just backed and wanted him to be my first *proper* eventer, but obviously it wasn't to be.
 
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