Stifle splitting surgery and vet recommendations

[coco10]

We have a wonderful 6 yr old OTTB who is having continued problems with upward fixation of the patella. He has the issue in both of his stifles, but it is worse in his right. We have tried increasing his workload and conditioning with backing up, cavaletti, etc. (unfortunately we have no hills).

It has helped some, but his right stifle continues to slightly catch and pop with every stride (from extension into flexion). As a result, he gets extremely anxious when we try to work him and will kick out repeatedly with his right leg in response to the catching, and continues to alter his gait to avoid the catching.

We have done other diagnostics on him to check for concurrent issues, x-rays and ultrasounds of his stifles, and x-rays of his hocks. The tests did not identify an issues. He is a wonderful and young horse, and my sister adores him, so we are thinking of taking him for an evaluation for the splitting surgery to give us a chance.

If anyone has had this surgery done, it would be great to hear experiences.

Also, we are located in NC near Raleigh, and if anyone has any recommendations for good surgeons that would be really helpful. We are willing to travel, but it would be great if we can stay within a 5-6 hour trip.

Thanks very much!

[NaturallyHappy]

My horse was diagnosed w upward fixation of the patella. We blistered, tried estrogen, and did the splitting surgery. None of those things helped him. Another veterinary clinic recommended clipping the medial patellar ligament. That did not help either- turned out the stifle was not the actual problem. I rehabbed him as the French recommend and we’ve had (thankfully) no problems from the surgery on the patellar ligament. The rehab from the splitting was easy enough. I’m sorry not to be of more help. My horse’s problem turned out to be muscular in nature.

[SinMiedo]

My mom had her horse’s done for the same issue and he’s now completely sound and happily packing her over the roughest country they can find. I don’t recall the exact rehab timeline, but it wasn’t terribly long. Lots of hand walking afterwards, I believe. He’d also previously had blisters and other things done without result, so I’d say the surgery might be a good option.

[FatCatFarm]

I had it done last year on a then 10 year old big draft cross gelding and it did help. Cost be about $680 to get both stifles done at my vet’s clinic. It is possible you can have it done and might need a revision done. Keeping the horse in regular work afterwards will make the most difference. My horse has not been but I still think it helped and believe it was money well spent. He is less resistant on his worse side which was his right. Wearing a bell boot on that hind foot also helps to use himself better.

[Smthn_Like_Olivia]

I’m not close to you, but had my TB done last August after blistering, estrogen and consistent work didn’t work. Cantering was hard on him and he would kick out or buck and just get tense about being asked to canter. My vet did a medial patellar preforation on both stifles. Procedure was $150 plus vet visit and 2 weeks down time. He hasn’t had an issue with it since and it’s like it never happened.

[FatCatFarm]

As an update, my big gelding is now having intermittent fixation of his left stifle, which previously had not been a problem of either stifle. His had previously seemed weak/loose and now they seem too tight. He is not now in regular work and this may be why. Estrone and regular work would likely improve it. He does seem to warm up out of it. Just wanted to mention as we seem to have gone from one extreme to the other.

[CanteringCarrot]

A few years back my horse had some stifle locking and funkyness going on, I opted for exercise. You really have to be strict about it and be a bit intensive. He hasn’t had an issue since. Even when he’s been in lighter work for a bit. The vet did not want to do anything to the stifle at the time and warned me the ligament can become to tight, but we would do the procedure if we were out of options. We didn’t get that far as he ended up fine, but it’s definitely a possibility.

[NaturalSelection]

Has anyone ever heard of shockwave on stifle soft tissue for sticky stifles/UFP?

[BoyleHeightsKid]

I would try esterone and strengthening first. I would also be suspicious that hind foot imbalance could contribute to the issue.