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Discussion on Inferior Check Ligament Surgery
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Member:
Lrichard
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2004 - 11:09 am:
My young 3 year old gelding, Quincy, is going to have surgery on his right front inferior check ligament. My vet told me that was the only thing we could do for him at this time, or he'd be a horse that is always lame. Is this type of surgery too late for Quincy? I understand that this should have been done when he was a baby. He is slightly club footed and is having significant changes in his navicular bone according to radiographs. Will this surgery help stop the progression of navicular disease? Will I ever be able to use Quincy as a performance horse (roping head horse) or is "general riding" going to be more his speed? I'm sorry I'm asking so many questions, and no one can predict the future, but I'm just worried. He's the best young colt I've ever owned, and I had high hopes for him becoming an outstanding roping horse....Any information you be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Liz
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Member:
Parforq
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2004 - 11:20 am:
Hi: I don't have any information regarding Quincy's problems, and respond just to let you know that I also have a horse named Quincy. He is an 11 year old quarter horse gelding - and he is a wonderful horse.
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Member:
Lrichard
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 13, 2004 - 11:35 am:
Hi Roxanne,
Thanks for your response. Yea, there must be something about the name "Quincy"... Too sweet and too cute! I've had some really bad luck with my horses, not to mention my dogs. So, the bad news over Quincy is extremely heart breaking A couple of years ago I had to put down my best roping horse due to chronic navicular, so I'm so scared for Quincy! Ugh!!!
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Member:
Lrichard
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Posted on Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004 - 10:48 pm:
Has anyone had any experience with Inferior Check Ligament Surgery? Anyone...??? Please...Thanks, Liz
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2004 - 6:39 am:
Hello Liz,
Sorry about the delayed response, we have been traveling this week. For chronic suspensory desmitis there is no reason to think waiting will lessen the chance that this could help. Let's see there is a long piece about the procedure and results in the article associated with this forum.
DrO
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Member:
Lrichard
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Posted on Saturday, Jul 17, 2004 - 2:14 pm:
Dr.O,
Thank you for your response, I have read the article, 2 times now, and I'm just having difficulty understanding the whole concept for my situation.
We've already had the surgery done last Wednesday. I re-bandaged him Fri and noticed it was swollen from behind the knee down to his ankle. He seems fairly sound and has so much flexsion in his RF. Will that get tighter? The post op calls for 20 min. hand walking 2 times a day if possible. We've been able to walk him plenty, but is that too much too soon? (Actually, we stroll and mostly graze. It's definitely not a steady walk) Also, we weren't home for one hour from the vet and Quincy decides to trot in his stall looking for his buddies! I quickly put him in a smaller stall. He paces around quite a bit, but for the most part, he's been okay (not pawing yet). Dr.O, I really appreciate your advice, but I just don't have enough "background" to understand the concepts of the article. Can you help put it in simpler terms? Thanks again and I understand if your busy.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2004 - 8:23 am:
I will try Liz. Rereading your posts I assumed in the first post your horse was lame do to chronic suspensory desmitis and now I am not so sure: did you have the surgery done to relieve lameness or to correct the club foot or both?
DrO
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Member:
Lrichard
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Posted on Sunday, Jul 18, 2004 - 6:51 pm:
DrO,
Thank you again for your quick response. Quincy had his inferior check ligament desmotomy for lameness and club foot. He has been slightly lame for 6 mo. now, but I kept on blaming the lameness on a wire cut and just poor feet when we bought him last September. No one had dealt with his feet, and once we started shaping his feet, he had a lot of heel growth. He is now fairly swollen from the surgery (from the knee down). Is that normal?
He didn't have chronic suspensory desmitis. His Deep Flexor tendon appeared too tight and causing too much pressure on his navicular bursa, which in turn, I think caused significant navicular changes. (I hope I'm explaining everything correctly.) I'm just concerned about his performance in the future. Will this surgery allow him to be a performance horse and will it slow down the progress of possible navicular disease? His left front was clean...I do appreciate your concern and again thank you for your advice.
Liz
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Jul 19, 2004 - 9:18 am:
It depends on what you consider "fairly swollen". Some swelling is normal but proper bandaging usually keeps this to a minimum. Without knowing the precise cause of the presurgical lameness we cannot prognose what the chances are the horse will come sound. The surgey itself is not a cause of chronic lameness nor excessive flexion in the leg however. Could you better explain what you mean by "so much flexion"? The exercise regimen seems ok if the horse is comfortable.
DrO
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Member:
Lrichard
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Posted on Monday, Jul 19, 2004 - 4:11 pm:
DrO,
There is minimal swelling today, and it looks better. I followed the exact directions the vet told me for a pressure bandage (1st "Telfa"-non adherent dressing,2nd-4 gauze squares at incision, 3rd-brown gauze wrap, and 4th-elastikon from below the knee to the ankle.) Does this seem okay?
I'm going to try to read off what the Case Summary was on 7/1/04: LF 56 degrees, RF 60 degrees, semi club appearance. 1 1/2/v on RF, went 90% better w/ PDNB. Sensitive to heel w/ hoof testers. Rads of RF (Nav. series) RF Nav. bone is misshapen w. changes on prox.post??? surface esp. when compared to LF. Changes in nav. bone on DV on flexor surface. Recommend to do Inf. check desmotomy. His writing was very hard to read...sorry if this makes no sense.
When I say "so much flexion", he just looks so different too me. He's not as upright like he was presurgery. The best I can tell, he has the same flexion in both feet. Yes, he seems comfortable with the exercise regimen, especially the eating part;) Thank you again for your responses.
Liz
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Tuesday, Jul 20, 2004 - 9:30 am:
No the bandaging is not adequate: it should have had a layer of thick cotton under the brown gauze to provide even pressure under the bandage particularly over the prominences and in the grooves.
Your description of his current appearance is still not that helpful. But since his hoof angles were very upright before surgery the hoof and pasterns should now appear less upright. The important thing is that they should now be balanced, see Care for Horses » Hoof Care » Trimming and Preparing the Feet for Shoes.
DrO
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