My 5 year old horse has a deep cut on his hind leg. The vet stitched it up with about 10 stitches but informed me that he also cut through 2/3 of the suspensory ligament. The vet doesn’t think he will recover at all. He is unable to put weight on this leg. I now keep him in the stable in order to minimise movement. He is not on anti-inflammatories as the vet feels the pain relief might encourage him to put weight on this leg, which might result in him snapping the last bit of ligament in tack. Does anyone out there have any experience of a similiar injury??? The wound is left uncovered. I am desperate to do the right thing here.
Ouch. Poor guy. No advice, sorry. Just jingles.
Get the horse seen by a lameness specialist.
Suspensory injuries are difficult at best to treat and you need to speak with someone who has lots of experience. I do not agree with letting the horse stand in pain. First, the inflammation would have to go down for the horse to have any chance at a decent recovery. Second-- would you want to be in intense pain?
Good luck.
Find a board certified surgical vet and ask if the suspensory can be repaired surgically. Also ask the surgeon about supporting limb laminitis complications during recovery. Depending on where the cut is, there are shoeing options which may help - a special leg brace attached to a shoe to support the fetlock and take strain off the suspensory.
I agree, I would be talking to a specialist. I will tell you what on Jan 16 my mare got 50 stitches in her hind leg and she was given 3/4 of a dose of baninime for her size and I went back to check her at 11 PM or so and she was in so much pain and so restless. I called the vet and got permission to give her 1 gram of bute to get her comfortable thru the night and then she was on it twice a day for 7 days 1 gram am and pm. If the horse gets too uncomfortable it could stress him/her and then you might have more problems on your hands. Also I am surprised the wound is not bandaged, I would really get with a specialist… Jingles for you and your horse!!! Keep us posted…
Cut the suspensory ligament on his hind leg
Thank you so much for your replies. I’ve demanded anti-inflammatory from the vet now - will administer that this afternoon. I also don’t understand the fact that the wound is left open. Vet said because stitched up, will heal quicker if left uncovered, but I still feel that a bandage will give him more support. Would it matter if I use a bandage even though his pretty swollen up at the moment?
I am very interested in the leg brace attached to shoe idea - more information, please. I live in a very remote area in Australia - no specialists available … only one local vet to rely on.
It would require custom fabrication by a highly educated, skilled, and experienced farrier. The shoe would have verticle supports attached to a padded roller. The roller would be placed just below and behind the fetlock. The apparatus allows the horse to bear weight on the fetlock itself, thus taking the majority of the strain off the suspensory. The fabrication would need to be done so that the assembly was adjustable after it is applied to the horse. It is a very complicated device to build and apply.
That is just one of many options. The problem is that whoever it is that works on the horse needs to have the ability to examine the horse in person and come up with a solution for the problem. Usually people with this level of skill can be found working with veterinary lameness experts at hospitals and surgical facilities. If you are in a remote area, and you cannot transport the horse due to risk of further injury, then you would have to pay to transport a vet and a farrier AND their equipment to your location.
Your local vet should already know where look to find people with the qualifications to do this kind of work. Right now you should be discussing your options with your vet and trying to figure out a prognosis. Your vet ought to be on the phone consulting with a specialist who has a lot of experience with this type of injury. Then you can make an informed choice based on the information provided by an expert instead of information provided by a general practitioner.
If you were dealing with a human doctor in this situation, you would already have been referred to a specialist or at least you local doctor would have consulted with a specialist. Nothing is PREVENTING your vet from picking up the telephone and asking for help.
Glad you are getting the NSAIDs.
The fact the leg is swollen is exactly one reason to wrap!
I’d also guess cold hosing would be a good idea-- 20 minutes at a time.
Understand the remote thing, but can your vet consult with a vet from a big clinic? This is a very serious injury and needs to be treated right from the start if you will have any chance of bringing the horse back to a level of comfort at the least.
I’ve seen amazing results from stem cell repairs. It’s your best shot.
Years ago I had a mare sever hers. When stuck with a needle she could not bring the leg forward. The hoof drug across the ground. The vet kept telling me she would learn to use it but I could not believe it at the time. 4 months after the injury I sent her to my sister-in-laws to recover. She used her for trail riding. The mare came back home 3 years later totally sound. She went on to be leased to a pony clubber for 2 years after that and was sound the whole time. The mare spent no time locked in a stall.
Years later I had a horse take the hide off over his suspensory ligament. Looked bad but her was sound on it. Unluckily I went with the vets advice and did stall rest. It healed up cosmetically great. Unluckily by not having the horse out and moving he ended up with adhesions and was never sound again.
I would have a second vet look at the horse.
Good luck and my sympathies. Get to a specialist immediately. There should be a university vet school or lameness specialist once you ask around. Please see my post from a few weeks ago “Suspensory injury” for great advice on rehab of suspensories. It sounds like surgical repair is the way to go here and I would not let a local vet handle that. I love my vet, but had the University of Florida do a 2nd opinion on a RF suspensory core lesion and had different findings. Don’t mess around with a rear suspensory in this condition; this is very serious. Please keep us posted.
When she says “remote” in Australia, it’s probably more remote than most of us could imagine…
Having said that, harass your vet into action. As Tom says, he must have some contacts, he just needs to realize that you are serious about saving this horse’s soundness and he needs to call them in. If I were you, I’d be looking at stem-cell if at all possible for the suspensory. You will need to get your vet and a larger clinic or hospital involved in this. Take photos, video, whatever, get x-rays, call up and find the email of a professor at one of the veterinary teaching hospitals, and send them off.
And I’d have it wrapped to keep the swelling under control, unless the vet could give me a rational reason why not. (I’m guessing it’s damned hot there at the moment, which might be a reason.) At least have the other leg wrapped for some support, and manage her pain.
Good luck. Managing this kind of injury when you don’t have a clinic round the corner is a real challenge, I know.
Mine is not the same, but I had a gelding almost loose a shoe with a clips on a jump - one nail held and it flipped up on landing and cut the back of his leg very badly but somehow stopped short of compromising the tendon sheath. Infection risk was huge and a return to usefulness was very questionable.
He was given drugs and it was wrapped (the other back leg was also wrapped for support). I can’t imagine not doing both of those things. Jingles for your horse
If you are within a days drive of a proper vet hospital or university, I would go now. Time is not your friend. If not, I would ask your vet to call the major universities for a consult. Have him send over your ultrasound pictures so they can see the damage themselves. They may be able to send him things and talk him through procedures. If he isn’t willing to do that for you today, I would start calling for a consult yourself. This vet alone isn’t doing you any good since it doesn’t seem like he even has a plan beyond stall rest.
Thanks again. Swelling is defnitely getting less. I’ve now wrapped both back legs and started with Butalone Granules (anti-inflammatory granules). Even though my local vet is not interested in contacting a specialist, I’ve contacted one via the internet … will keep you posted. I’m also wondering about feeding him while he is stabled - how much is enough ???
[QUOTE=Eden09;3937656]
Thanks again. Swelling is defnitely getting less. I’ve now wrapped both back legs and started with Butalone Granules (anti-inflammatory granules). Even though my local vet is not interested in contacting a specialist, I’ve contacted one via the internet … will keep you posted. I’m also wondering about feeding him while he is stabled - how much is enough ???[/QUOTE]
You’ll want to cut his grain to next to nothing-- just enough to get the meds in him, and keep hay in front of him to keep him occupied. Just not super rich hay-- if that is all you have, seek out something with high fiber but low sugar.
How does the vet know that 2/3 of the suspensory was cut through? Did he do an ultrasound? Rereading your original post, I am unclear. That would be where to start.
So your local vet won’t do a consult and you’ve sent someone an email-- I’d really suggest picking up the phone and contacting the nearest vet school (understanding that the nearest one could indeed be hours and hours away). If this injury is indeed 2/3 cut into the suspensory-- only bandaging and stall rest probably will not make for a good outcome. 
Sorry the local vet is not being much help.
If the OP is in a remote location (Australia is huge - she could be nearly a thousand miles from an equine surgeon), the local vet may be farm-animal oriented, and not have things like ultrasound. It may be more of a “what would James Herriot do” scenario.
I suppose it’s not useful to speculate. I am just feeling bad for the OP and the horse.
The specialist that I am communicating with is about 3000km from where I am - just to give you an idea of my situation. No, the local vet did not do an ultrasound - unable to - he made this observation when the wound was still open. I have my suspisions about this - my husband had a look at the open wound with the vet and explained to the specialist over the phone exactly what he saw - according to this the specialist suspects that it is the Superficial digital flexor tendon. Anyway, whichever tendon or ligament it is, it defnitely was cut about halfway through. This specialist is involved in stem cell repairs and sounds quite experienced - I’ll keep in contact with him. He also suggested wrapping for more support. I am not in a situation to do much more at this stage. I wish I was - I realy do …
OP - it might be feasible (strategically if not financially) for a human surgeon to work with the distant consulting veterinarian to help treat the horse. It might be easier to find a doctor within range (someone who has done some work on ligament injuries in people) than a vet. Just a thought.
Research bone marrow, stem cell. for example http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/AAEP/2001/91010100319.pdf
Mending with marrow: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=4755
I second go to a sergeon/specialist
Best wishes!
