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  Discussion on Post injection Lameness
Author Message
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Saturday, Jan 1, 2005 - 11:08 am:

I have a 5 year old QH I took to have looked at by my vet. I have owned him only 4 months but have known him since he was 2 years old he has always been not right behind but has had a "hard" life with bad and inconsistent shoeing and no vet care. I bought him and right away started him on an aggressive Legend and Adequan program he has had 6 Legend shots giving one about every 3 weeks after the first 3 were given 10 days apart. Adequan was given every 4 days. He improved greatly but is still a little stiff behind coming out of the stall and on a lunge line cannot hold a lead behind he cross fires. Under saddle however he was performing well I would say about 90%. I thought taking him to the vets and having him x-rayed and injected would possibly get him to 100%. He is typically a horse who does well with everyday exercise and not good with stall rest. The vet x-rayed the hocks and much to my surprise he said his hocks looked pretty clean, the joint spaces were all good and there are no bone spurs, he said if this was a pre-purchase he would pass the horse, we decided to inject the lower stacking joints in hopes that would help him as it is most commenly the joint sore with pleasure horses he did a combo of Legend and steroids, also an IV Legend was given. He was to be on 3 days stall rest with 2 grams bute once a day for 3 days then light exercise for 4 days with 1 gram bute once a day. The first day I took him out was Thursday and he is very stiff behind he feels good at the long trot but is almost unable to canter. Could this be a little flare from the injections? My clinic will be closed until Monday and I am very worried.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Jan 2, 2005 - 12:33 pm:

This may or may not be related to the injection but if the lameness is in the leg that was injected this would be the number one rule out. You may also find heat and pain on deep palpation in the distal hock, this area does not swell easily however. You should contact your vet now as infection is a possiblility and should be treated on an emergency basis. If you and your vet determine infection is not he problem, at the very least you can get a NSAID, like bute, to cool out the inflammation.
DrO
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Sunday, Jan 2, 2005 - 10:33 pm:

Dr.O:

I did have infection ruled out by another vet as the clinic I took him to is 1.5 hours away and was closed for Holidays. He said the lameness would be much worse than it was if it was an infection and he had no temp. He is much improved. What would cause this kind of flare up? Does the steroid they put in burn? I thought the whole idea of injecting was to calm the inflamation not to make it worse.
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 3, 2005 - 7:20 am:

No it is not a caustic reaction and can occur with hyaluronic acid alone. These reactions are not common but do occur and seem to be an individual sensitivity to certain drugs or perhaps their carriers. Pretreatment with a NSAID and for several days after IA treatment may prevent such a flare.
DrO
Member:
Melody12

Posted on Monday, Jan 3, 2005 - 11:17 am:

DrO:

Does my horse being sensitive to the product injected mean that it will not help him be more comfortable in the long run?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 3, 2005 - 1:38 pm:

No I don't think so Melody, once the flare is under control the antiinflammatories will do their work.
DrO
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