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Discussion on Radial nerve injury
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New Member:
jwoodman
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Posted on Friday, Feb 20, 2009 - 11:25 am:
Dr O thank you for the article on Shoulder sweeny. My 9 yr old Percheron Mare suffered blunt trauma to her right shoulder 4 wks ago. She was treated at our local clinic with IV bute,dmso,prednisone. She has been at home on complete stall rest for 3 wks. she is receiving 14,000 IU's of vit. E daily. at first there was complete paralysis of rt leg. we have seen only minor improvement, she will paw to lay down, lift the leg up and down. She does not ever set the foot down flat, or under her always out in front. My question is, with little improvement, is there hope of recovery? Local Vets are telling me after six weeks of rest and no further improvement, she would not likely recover. I should mention she has sensation all over the leg and shoulder and there are no fractures. Any advice would be great.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 10:13 am:
Welcome Janette,
I disagree that you can assess a Sweeny in 6 weeks that would include radial nerver paralysis. Many of these injuries take many months and a few even over a year. The reasons are explained in the prognosis section of the article. I do think the severity of the paralysis that you describe may lessen the prognosis but there certainly is still hope. Note that horse's with severe weight bearing problems should not be hand walked.
DrO
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New Member:
jwoodman
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Posted on Saturday, Feb 21, 2009 - 10:47 am:
Dr O- I guess my question is, and I believe it is a tough one because no one seems to be able to tell me. At what rate should I see progress? As I said there was initial recovery but lately I see no improvement at all. Today I have a Massage therapist coming because this horse will not except acupuncture. She was a PMU mare that has turned out to be a fantastic mount. I want to give time but don't want to keep her around because of my attachment.
Thanks, Janette
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 - 8:34 am:
Unlike muscle soreness which gradually improves or broken bones that can be visualized, nerves are more like light switches they tend to be on or off and the degree of damage cannot be visualized. When they finally get to working again, sometimes over months of repairing, they tend to improve over a relatively short period.
I notice blunt force trauma has been suggested as the cause: was the trauma observed?
DrO
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New Member:
jwoodman
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Posted on Sunday, Feb 22, 2009 - 11:09 am:
Dr O- I can't thank you enough for your input. Yes the accident was witnessed by my neighbor, as I was not there. My Mare was in the pasture when someone made a bad choice and let their untrained 10yr old ride a pony. The pony ran away with the boy and ran straight for my Mare. Frightened, she ran head on to the fencing which hit her square on the right shoulder. She went down immediately got up and collapsed again. With in minutes she was up but there was total paralysis. No acute swelling but we started hyDrOtherapy until the Vet arrived.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Monday, Feb 23, 2009 - 8:00 am:
Janette,
Is the horse able to rest the good leg? It may be the veterinarians are worried that in time the good leg will fail do to traumatic founder. If this is true a heavy bandage or splint may be fashioned to help the horse stand on the leg.
DrO
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New Member:
jwoodman
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Posted on Tuesday, Feb 24, 2009 - 9:40 am:
Dr O- Tosca(mare) is able to rest her hind legs while standing, but never the front. She is able to get up and down without much trouble, so we do see her taking naps through out the day. I'm not sure about a splint, i'll ask local vet. At times she does put the leg under her in a straight fashion she just can't seem to bare much wieght(very little). other wise it's always out in front or just limp under her.
Thank You again. Janette
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 25, 2009 - 9:25 am:
Let us know how your horse progresses Janettte.
DrO
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New Member:
jwoodman
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Posted on Wednesday, Apr 8, 2009 - 3:27 pm:
Hi Dr O- It's been 10 weeks now and my Mare is hanging in there. She has sensation in the front leg and can lift it. If you cross it over in front of the other she will put it back in place, she even will pull it away from you if you extend it out in front of her. However she is still not weight bearing. She has learned how to get around well and is not in as stress. I have had the opinions of 2 different Vets and they do not feel the out come will be good. Heat will be a factor soon here in Arizona and I'm not sure her good leg will hold up much longer. It seems to be a quality of life issue at this point and will most likely put her down. I just wanted to run things by you one last time. Thanks for you help.
Janette
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Member:
scooter
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Posted on Wednesday, Apr 8, 2009 - 4:05 pm:
Hi Janette, Years ago a friend of mine had two horses collide when spooked in the pasture. The 2 year old was just being broke out at the time. My friend had the vet out, because the two year old was lame and limping (not weight bearing on the injured side.. The vet didn't know what it was. I stopped by one day and she took the filly out to show me how lame she was..She walked her towards me and you could see her shoulder bone was at a weird angle. Friend called vet back and he then diagnosed her with radial nerve injury no broken bones, reading the article in here it sounds just like this filly. Vet didn't give her any specifics how to treat except bute, she kept her out in pasture (she didn't know better) the filly just wouldn't improve. I'm not real sure of the time frame anymore, but my friend had a chiropractor come work on her...didn't improve her any, but she seemed to feel better regardless.
Friend decided she was going to put filly down in early fall (the injury happened in the spring). She knew the filly wouldn't be able to handle our snowfall and ice and felt she would never recover. She told the chiropractor her plans and he said he would take her. I really don't know what the chiropractor did or didn't do but 1.5 years later they were riding her. I saw her one more time after my friend gave her away, her shoulder still stuck out slightly different on that side, and she had some atrophy but she was fine for riding...even downhill....surprised us all  .
Of course this is your horse, no two injuries are the same and you know what's best for her, but I thought I'd throw that story at you.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Apr 9, 2009 - 9:12 am:
Hello Janette,
The remaining degree of paralysis does not bode well. But as long as the quality of life is good and the horse not taxing your resources I feel there is hope!
DrO
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Member:
lynnea
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Posted on Saturday, Apr 11, 2009 - 1:06 pm:
Janette,
I had a mare who injured her right shoulder by hitting a fence and also did radial nerve damage. She was incredibly lame ...would not bear weight...cantered in place instead of trotting . She was in training at the time of the incident and she was four years old. We did all the x-rays, etc. and began cortisone treatments into her shoulder. It did help, but one of my vets suggested taking her to a rehabilitaton center for swimming....for four months she swam and there was considerable improvement...but we still had to do the cortisone shots. Ultimately, she improved little by little and within a year she still had a slight limp but she was happy, healthy and has enjoyed the last 23 years in pasture, playing with her brother and totally enjoying her life. Sometimes trying different things and perservering can make a huge difference...I never rode her again,even though the vets said light riding was fine...I just knew she would be happier just being a horse and after all these years, I know I was right. She is now 27 and even though she still has a noticeable deficit on her right side, it doesn't hinder her romping. I know all cases are different, but hers was frightening...Sometimes time can be a real healer. Best to you.
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New Member:
siscobab
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Posted on Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 - 10:50 am:
Radial nerve injury that's what my vet said. I am worried about lots of stress on the good leg therefore I rapped both legs, tried to rap the one she is not straightening further down passed the ankle so that she has to straightening it more. Please let me know your thoughts I am new on this site.
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New Member:
siscobab
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Posted on Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 - 11:00 am:
Just joined you and have very poor results about reaching administration telling me my username/password is wrong but it is not. Please get backcourt to me}
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Member:
lbrnm
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Posted on Tuesday, Feb 25, 2014 - 1:00 pm:
Hey Claudia,
As a general rule of thumb on this site, you'll get better responses to your questions, especially from DrO, if you create a new thread of your own, and describe your issues in a new thread, instead of adding on to an old one. 
Nicole
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Member:
siscobab
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 - 9:42 am:
Nicole Tucker please help how I have to do that.
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Member:
lbrnm
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Posted on Wednesday, Feb 26, 2014 - 11:34 am:
If you go to the article associated with this discussion, then scroll down below all of the discussions, there is a red button that says "Start a New Discussion".
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