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  Discussion on Swollen left rear hock
Author Message
New Member:
dom9964

Posted on Tuesday, Apr 10, 2007 - 11:26 pm:

I have been reading several posts on this and have my own situation. Mare 7 yo just brought home with swollen hock. identified when lounging-lame on left hind. rode her a month ago and no lameness. not sure what may have happened and prev. owner not sure either. i have had her for 2 weeks now and has been in stall. let her out in pasture one day alone and she was running around like crazy. hock slightly more swollen after that. vet out and checked and wanted to do xrays and ultrasound. did not opt for it. hock still swollen and sore when i add pressure and she picks up the foot. please tell me the correct course of action to take to identify this correctly and maybe the correct questions to ask the vet. i would love to ride this mare again and have no clue what the heck happened to her. vet mentioned possible soft/deep tissue injury which would mean time off to heal. any help is appreciated. thanks
Member:
dr3ssag3

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 - 12:23 am:

I'd say opt for the xrays / ultrasound if it doesn't clear up quickly. It's not something you want to gamble with. :-)
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 - 9:40 am:

Welcome Dominique,
The first step is accurate identification of which structures are swollen and the nature of the swelling. For more on this see, Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Swellings / Localized Infection / Abscesses » Diagnosing and Assessing Swellings in Horses. If it is determined that the swelling is intra-articular radiographs and joint fluid evaluation are in order to help diagnose the cause. Ultrasound can be helpful in some cases if in experienced hands. Good photos of the swelling from several different angles may allow us to help you identify what is swollen.
DrO
PS, until the cause identified I recommend you read Diseases of Horses » Lameness » First Aid for the Lame Horse. It will help you with decisions on care until a diagnosis is made.
New Member:
dom9964

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 - 10:09 pm:

Thanks!
Vet has been called and waiting to hear back on appt date.
Where can i find a pic of the hock to show where it may be injured.
looked at it again tonight. still warm, looking from behind, around the point of the hock is slightly swollen, on the outer leg mid hock area, there is a slight swelling. where i see the most swelling and heat is above the hock straight along the back of the leg about 7" worth. what is the formal name for that area or a tendon there???
thanks!
New Member:
dom9964

Posted on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 - 10:18 pm:

hi again
okay i found the hock pictures and if no where on them does it show where her swelling is on top area of hock (if that is even accurate) if you look at the injection site picture, injustion sites are well below the area on her that is also swollen. above the calcaneous? on the back area of the leg is where she is more swollen. that area is not curved as much as the pic shows, but has heat and swelling making it look almost a straight line from point of hock up about 7". what is this area called. thanks
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Apr 12, 2007 - 7:52 am:

7 inches above the point of the hock puts you in the gaskin Dominique and anatomically you are describing the digital flexors. Now the question is the swelling confined to the skin areas or does it involve damage to the tendons themselves. The best way to answer that question is this area is with ultrasound. The fact there is lameness suggest at least some tendon or bursal involvement (capped hock). Another possibility in this area would be a luxated superficial digital flexor tendon. These are described in the article on diseases of the hock.
DrO
New Member:
dom9964

Posted on Friday, May 4, 2007 - 9:57 pm:

Hi everyone,
The vet did ultrasound on Tuesday at my barn and requested me to bring her into the office so they could get a better view and extent of damage.The first thought after barn ultrasound was a torn ligament or tendon-can't remember what he said but also stated the dark areas were fluid/possibly blood.

We she went into the hospital today (friend took her in ) and now after better review, no torn tendons but some type of cel???itis. The girl who took her could not remember the name of what they said but I am getting a call from the vet maybe tomorrow or monday. They said she would never be 100% sound and maybe a cut from a long time ago caused this. I have no idea but want to read on cellulitis?? and try to research this site again.

Any of this sound familiar.
Thanks!
Dom
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, May 6, 2007 - 8:27 am:

It is still hard to follow what is happening with your horse Dominique and I feel there is something missing here as the diagnosis is a bit odd for this region and does not match the prognosis. See if you can get a written report at what were the:
  • Clinical findings
  • Ultrasound findings
  • Diagnosis
  • Proposed Treatment
  • Prognosis

Cellulitis is a pretty nonspecific finding of inflammation in the subcutaneous tissues most often do to trauma, infection, and autoimmune disease and usually would have a good prognosis.
ad poor.
DrO
Member:
dom9964

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 - 8:03 pm:

Hi Dr. O,
Thanks for following up. Well I played phone tag today with the Vet. Meetings all day did not allow for thorough communications. I am going to ask them to fax me a report to work tomorrow. My message today was basically: no torn anything and just inflammation that can be treated with steroids. It was mentioned to my girlfriend during the ultrasound that maybe an old wound could have caused this. But I cannot trust that because like I said, when ridden 2 months ago and going over her, this swelling was not there. I am honestly beginning to think the Vets have no clue what the heck is going on. And I am not sure what other tests are available to find out what has happened. Anyway, since I knew nothing was torn, etc...I let her out tonight with my gelding. She has been locked up for some time now and wanted to let her run already. She ran like crazy and was bucking all over the place. Still slightly favoring the leg, but nothing like before. All I can figure is she may have kicked something and caused inflamation ?? I will definately keep you posted. I am going to bring her in now. I only want to leave her out for about an hour or so. I am going to breed her as soon as I can as we do not feel she will have an issue breeding or carrying.
Thanks very much!
Dom
Member:
dom9964

Posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 - 9:04 pm:

Hi all,
I spoke with the vet today and he said the ultrasound showed no issues with the tendons and/or ligaments.
Clinical findings - swelling on both sides of her left hock and above the hock on back of leg (gaskin area)
Ultrasound findings - no torn tendons/ligaments and shows inflammation in the 2 fluid filled pockets that are supposed to be in this area
Diagnosis - Tenevitis??
Proposed Treatment - Cortisone shot in the hock area
Prognosis - if swelling goes away w/in 5 to 10 days, prognosis will look to be very good

I provided above the information that was given to me.
Have you heard of this and are our chances good for her to get better.
Thanks!
Dom
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, May 9, 2007 - 8:33 am:

I am sorry Dominique but first you state there is no issues with the tendons then you write the diagnosis sounds like tendinitis. I am uncertain what the problem is, can you call him back and ask him what structure is effected and what the diagnosis is? Get him to spell it.
DrO
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