Sequestrum and the dropped hip

[HRF_Second_Chance]

Back in August my horse was diagnosed with a dropped hip. We did the 30 days stall rest (which fast turned into 60 because of the weather here in Texas) and then slowly reintroduced turnout. He’s been sound the entire time. No issues, no lame days, just some unevenness. In March he was cleared to return to work and started out with 7 minutes per side on the lunge, moving up to 10 per side. No issues.

This weekend he developed a huge abscess that burst out. My vet was on vacation but when he came to my barn yesterday it wasn’t good news. He said that the horse has numerous shards of bone trying to work their way out (this one busted) and he didn’t find anything that suggested he had another abscess festering.

We are going to try flushing it and see if we can get more bone out, and if that doesn’t work we’ll add a drain to see if that helps. Obviously if none of that does we’ll have to run another route, that route being surgery.

My vet strongly suspicions that there is a chunk of bone where it shouldn’t be and that we’re giving this a shot to give him every available opportunity to recover. He did not recommend surgery because of the long recovery time, chances that they’ll have to take more bone than he can handle, etc.

I’m attaching photos but I’m curious to hear if anyone else has had a similar issue. I know sequestrums usually turn out well with surgery but this seems to be in a tougher area being it’s between his hip (where it used to be) and his stifle.

Let me know if you’re unable to view photos. I have put a lot of heart and soul into this colt and I want what’s best for him. I also don’t want him to suffer. He is currently sound and happy so that makes this that much harder.

https://www.facebook.com/amanda.hensley.102/posts/10214600646875520

[beowulf]

I am amazed he would be sound, with bone floating around? Assuming his dropped hip is from trauma - pelvic injury? Maybe a wing fracture? What did vet say when he was “diagnosed” with a dropped hip? Dropped hips are a symptom, not a diagnosis - what caused it?

My gelding, when he broke his pelvis (acetabulum fracture & wing fracture[s]), had a rock inside him. He fell, and the rock punctured into him and had to be extracted. It is NOT something I would have sat around on. The vet extracted the rock standing in field. You run the risk of any foreign object traveling, and that’s an area I wouldn’t want it to travel the wrong way (perforation…)

Major jingles for your boy.

[HRF_Second_Chance]

Holy crap! Your horse doesn’t believe in doing things in halves does he? Whoa! So it’s a tubal coxia (sp?) fracture. We took him to the big clinic here and they did x-rays. Said he’d be sound in the future and would have a career. I’m just shocked that this is an issue now, all this time later. He’s been in work (though not consistent because apparently I live in the amazon now) and hasn’t had a single off day. When it was broken there was just a small spot on his hip but some crazy lameness then. This just sort of came out of nowhere.

We did do a sonogram and the vet thought at first it was gas. He called the vet who did the x-rays (and had more experience) and sent him the photos. So that’s why they think it’s shards.

And I have NO idea how he managed this. He’s got a handful of trees he never goes under and a loafing shed in his paddock. That’s it.