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  Discussion on NERVING
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Member:
Luke1

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 - 6:26 pm:

I HAVE A 23YR OLD TRAK GELDING. HEAVY BUILD,LARGE FLAT FEET. HE HAS BEEN DIAGNOSED BY TWO VETS AS HAVING COFFIN JOINT ARTHRITIS. NOT PEDAL OSTITIS OR NAVICULAR. I WAS TOLD THAT BY BLOCKING THE HEEL,IF THE HORSE COMES SOUND THAN THIS IS MOST LIKELY THE EFFECT A PARTIAL NERVING WOULD HAVE. I HAVE TRIED ALL OTHER OPTIONS, REGARDING SHOEING CHANGES, PADS, SUPPLIMENTS ETC... ALSO THERE IS AN ADDITIONAL PROBLEM, ULSERS. SO BUTE ETC, LONG TERM IS OUT. 3 WEEKS AGO HE HAD THE SURGERY AND SEEMED TO BE HEELING BEAUTIFULLY. ALSO HE HAD NAPROXIN FOR ONLY 5 DAYS BECAUSE OF THE ULSERS. HE HAS BEEN HAND WALKED FOR A WEEK. THERE IS IMPROVEMENT AT THE TROT BUT STILL ASLIGHT HEADBOB. I HAVE ONLY TROTTED SHORT SPIRTS TO CHECK HIS PROGRESS. HE HAD 3 INCISIONS. MAYBE ALL OF THE PROBING AROUND FOR BRANCHES HAS CAUSE SOME INFLAMMATION. ANY THOUGHTS OUT THERE.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Jul 28, 2004 - 8:18 am:

Hello Judy,
I will move the other posts from your earlier posting to below, to keep the discussion in one place. Let me make one other suggestion do not write in ALL CAPS: it makes reading a post much harder and discourages some from reading and replying.
DrO
Member:
Shirl

Posted on Sunday, Jul 25, 2004 - 12:48 am:

Judy,
I would contact immediately the vet that did the surgery. He should be willing to give you options, explain what's happening and why. Nerves can grow back, but I'd think not that rapidly. Please let the vet know. Also check for stitches that may have been over looked. My horse came up lame after two years. We did some homopathic doctoring, and after 10 days of that, a stitch popped out, dry, no infection, no nothing. Just the stitch that was over looked caused her all that discomfort. We were certain it was a neuroma forming. Luckily it wasn't.
Keep us informed, and the best to you, Shirl}
Member:
Luke1

Posted on Sunday, Jul 25, 2004 - 11:00 am:

Shirl; Thanks for responding so rapidly. She does know about the soreness. Her explaination was the surgery takes 4-6 weeks for total healing time. This said, try to be patient. He is old and I am trying to think maybe the healing is a bit slower. What was your post opt period in terms of handwalking, turnout etc... I probably should have done the general anethsethia, but this guy is a basket case when faced with anything he isnt happy with, and I was trying to keep the stress level down. He has ulsers so I cant even use any inflamation reducers.
Member:
Shirl

Posted on Sunday, Jul 25, 2004 - 3:40 pm:

Judy, Sierra was boarded with a friend at the time of the surgery. Sierra was anethesized at the time of surgery in Gilbert AZ. She was stall bound for 2 wks with 15 minutes of hand walking 2x a day. My friend took care of the bandage changes, giving of bute, etc. After two wks. she was moved to a small turnout with access to a barn for a month more, though hand walking continued. If you go up this session, you'll see where she galloped after getting loose once, which was a no, no. After she recovered from that ordeal, luckily she was okay. She never experienced any soreness at all, but then again, she was on a lot of Bute for a month while she healed, so that's probably why your guy is showing soreness. Sierra was 12 at the time also. Just give it time, walk slowly and hopefully all will turn out fine. Best of luck and prayers too. It's a nerve shattering ordeal for you both. Shirl
Member:
Luke1

Posted on Monday, Jul 26, 2004 - 6:32 pm:

SHIRL; MAYBE THAT IS THE PROBLEM. MAYBE I'LL PUT HIM ON A LOW DOSE OF NAPROXIN FOR A FEW WEEKS WITH AN INCREASE IN RANIDINE. THANKS FOR YOUR INTEREST.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Jul 27, 2004 - 7:53 am:

Hello Judy,
Before you can hypothesize a cause and proper treatment you have to localize the lameness. I would have my vet come out to check there is not anything that needs immediate attention, like a stitch left in, and then give it a little more time. If this persists then it can be worked up. If arthritis of the coffin joint is the problem, it generally responds poorly to a posterior digital neurectomy: there are nerves running down the front of the pastern that partially innervate the joint.
DrO
Member:
Luke1

Posted on Monday, Sep 13, 2004 - 9:16 pm:

Just letting you or anyone out there know the up date.The nerving wasnt successful. That said and not one to leave anything unturned, I had the vet come out and inject the coffin joint and the navicular bursa in hopes of calming any major inflammed areas. There was also not much in the way of fluid in the coffin joint. So that was 2 weeks ago and the horse is still lame. So I am assuming there is some soft tissue issue going on in the foot, or possible sidebone, ringbone or just plain old horse that needs to be retired. At 23 I guess he doesnt owe me anything. Alright Dr.O anything else you could suggest I do?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Sep 14, 2004 - 8:26 am:

As always the first step is to localize where the lameness is coming from. If you find a PDN block relieves the lameness you might consider some branches were left uncut and a repeat of the surgery might be successful. Was the neurectomy done as a field surgery or in a fully equiped surgical suite?
DrO
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