|
|
Discussion on Mystery: Recurring Swelling At End Ribcage Area Causing Lameness After Work And Long Periods Rest??
|
| Author |
Message |
New Member:
bondi
|
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 7, 2010 - 3:26 pm:
Hi,
I would love to hear any thoughts on my mares condition! It is a recurring condition.
I have a 15.1 chesnut mare, rising 8 from Argentina. She was bred for polo, and was 5 rising 6 when i got her and sound to my knowledge and passed the 5 stage vetting. Her only issue I noted was that she didnt engage her hind area very well, as in "collect" and would "DrOp" her hip area at the walk on the left hind, every 10 steps or so, or less often.
However after playing chukkas one day, she came off with a huge swelling appearing before our eyes just above her abdominal area, at the end of the ribs towards the flank. There was no trauma that we know of. She couldn't weight bare on that hind for a few hours and got vet attention within 30 mins.
after 6 weeks rehab from what looked like a slight tear (dont know where) she was sound.
then at the walk, she did it again, on the other side but same place. much less severe, but same problem. swelling, slight lameness and swelling went down in around 30 mins and she trotted up "sound"
gave her 8 months off after that.
worked her lightly for 4 months, then she did it again as soon as she stretched out into her first fast canter / gallop.
swelled up, not weight baring. gave her another 7 months off.
bought her in this week, and at the walk on the 2nd day, again, took off her tack and swelled up on left, same place, not lame however, but im sure with more work she would have.
everyone is baffled, from vet, to physio, to chiro to all.
although i am getting the vet back tomorrow, has anyone ever heard or seen this?? no one here seems to have.
she doesnt put on topline well, and even after 7 months turnout with plenty of hayledge, didnt put on weight.
eats ok, mood good (actually a little "sooky"!) doesnt flinch when the swollen area is touched. its not hot, might be slightly warmer but nothing alarming.
if anyone can help, i would love to hear your thoughts. i can email photos from today that show where the swelling is, and how it compares to the other side. Swelling seems to go down very quickly around 30 mins after but it is recurring.
many thanks!!
|
Member:
scooter
|
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 7, 2010 - 8:04 pm:
Hi Ruby welcome to HA, I would love to see pictures of this if you could post them.. funny it switches sides.
|
New Member:
bondi
|
Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2010 - 8:28 am:
hi there
thanks for responding -
i cant post any pictures as it keeps rejecting them as too big, too heavy! they were only taken on a mobile too. have you heard of this before?
|
Member:
stek
|
Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2010 - 12:59 pm:
Ruby welcome to HA. You will need to resize the photos down to 65k or smaller to post. Most image management software has a way to 'compress' images for web page use, that might work for you?
What an odd group of symptoms your mare has. I am totally baffled. Maybe Dr. O will chime in with some ideas. Your best bet is to get pics up, they are worth 1000 words =)
Are there any other symptoms aside from the swelling and lameness? Does the swelling go away completely after a short time span or does it hang around for a while?
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Thursday, Apr 8, 2010 - 1:34 pm:
I agree that pictures would help a lot. Also, I am assuming the tack you are using has been ruled out as a possible cause? Does this only happen when she is under saddle? Have you tried working her free or on a lunge to see if she starts to swell? What made you and the vet think this was a tear? What tests were done by the vet? This is very curious!
|
New Member:
bondi
|
Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2010 - 6:05 am:
hi there,
the original tear the vet said could have been caused whilst she was playing, by being bumped by another horse, but this is rare. Prob more likely she already had some kind of weakness there and she "tore" it playing / stretching out / getting a light bump (we don't play hard!!).
The tack shouldn't be an issue its really light and specially fit to her, although I have not lunged her to see if it happens when not under saddle? It's a good point. I wonder what difference it might make?
Also the test on the day was an mri/ultrasound i think, as i could see it when he was scanning the area, so thats where the tear was noted.
A month ago I had a lady come and do pulse therapy that contracts the muscles, and she noted severe soreness illiopsoas muscle near vertabrae attachment.
I think its time for xrays, scans, the lot to get to the bottom of it.
Has anyone ever seen this kind of swelling before? It didnt cause lameness the other day, but it has in the past when she did more work.
The swelling goes down after around 30 mins and no heat. Original big swelling took weeks to go down.
She seems to have a bit of a firm raised area around the size of your hand in the area, maybe a heamotoma? doesnt hurt her when pressed or anything tho.
thanks! photos im trying to resize now 
|
New Member:
bondi
|
Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2010 - 6:43 am:
please email me at
transparentgem@hotmail.com and ill send the pix, as cant work out how to compress!!
cheers
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Friday, Apr 9, 2010 - 1:08 pm:
Welcome Ruby,
I too would like to see an image of the swelling but would also like to know more about the character of the swelling. The article associated with this discussion area discusses the different characteristics of swelling to help you describe character more easily. Review it and check out HorseAdvice.com » Help & Information on Using This Site » Uploading Images and Files Into a Posting for more on resizing images.
We can be sure it is not a hematoma as they take days to resolve. Then again I cannot think of anything that might behave this way unless you are seeing some muscle bunched up that then relaxes...
DrO
|
Member:
mrose
|
Posted on Thursday, Apr 15, 2010 - 11:17 pm:
At long last here is a picture of Ruby's horse's side. I'm sorry it took me so long to get it posted Ruby. After I got home I had computer problems, so had to get them resolved before I could do anything. I hope this helps. Now that the computer is running right again, posting future pictures for you will be easy.
|
Moderator:
DrO
|
Posted on Sunday, Apr 18, 2010 - 9:08 am:
Hmmm, it remains unclear what might be the cause or even the nature of the swelling itself ruby. Review the article associated with this discussion and see if you can describe the nature of the swelling using the terms and definitions in the article.
DrO
|
|
|
