That’s pretty much the question. Vets involved don’t give % of tear or anything measurable, other than saying “it’s tiny”. Horse blocked sound to the hock/suspensory area, nothing of note found on the U/S or X-ray, so off to the MRI horsie went. They are saying the usual: 60 days hand walking (one vet said even tack walking would be ok), reevaluate but expect 9 months to a year off. I asked, “How do you reevaluate if you can’t see anything on the U/S?” Experiences, folks? I’ve read just about every suspensory thread until my eyes bled, and not any of them (that I saw) talked about finding one via MRI and they all reevaluated via U/S.
My guess would be MRIs are super sensitive and are much better at diagnosing something like tiny tears. Once the issue is identified, it can be found and imaged on ultrasound, but ultrasound may not be the best tool for finding or diagnosing. Ultrasound also requires human skill to image correctly, with an MRI the machine does the scanning.
Was the ultrasound done the same day as the blocks?
Yes…but ('cause I know where you’re going with it) said horsie was re-ultrasounded after MRI findings and vet said he still couldn’t “really” visualize it. He said we would NOT be able to use U/S to evaluate healing because it was so slight, “we’d just be kidding ourselves”. (very experienced/seasoned vet btw) :-/
In that case I guess you’d have to wing it like the olden days and rely on the horse to tell you.
I’m interested in this because I have a horse with a problem that sounds very similar. His is a chronic issue that was jumbled up with several other problems so the location wasn’t discovered until he had been lame for quite some time.
He has been blocked sound on two separate occasions to the lower hock/upper suspensory region of the right hind, but the x-rays and ultrasounds were clean. After the second exam with blocks, I drove 110 miles back home and returned the next day to do the ultrasound, just to make sure the gas from the blocks wasn’t obstructing the scan. Still nothing found.
The only option they could offer then was an MRI, but the expense and risk of general anesthesia scared me so I opted to give him extended pasture rest. I did not do stall rest because that would have been the end of him, mentally and physically. That was almost a year ago, and he has been out of work for over two years now.
Unfortunately, the rest has not done him any good so I am back to square one and the lack of condition has made some of his other problems worse. We are now doing chiro and PT to help his back and get him more fit before deciding what to do.
[QUOTE=LarkspurCO;8282550]
In that case I guess you’d have to wing it like the olden days and rely on the horse to tell you.
I’m interested in this because I have a horse with a problem that sounds very similar. His is a chronic issue that was jumbled up with several other problems so the location wasn’t discovered until he had been lame for quite some time.
He has been blocked sound on two separate occasions to the lower hock/upper suspensory region of the right hind, but the x-rays and ultrasounds were clean. After the second exam with blocks, I drove 110 miles back home and returned the next day to do the ultrasound, just to make sure the gas from the blocks wasn’t obstructing the scan. Still nothing found.
The only option they could offer then was an MRI, but the expense and risk of general anesthesia scared me so I opted to give him extended pasture rest. I did not do stall rest because that would have been the end of him, mentally and physically. That was almost a year ago, and he has been out of work for over two years now.
Unfortunately, the rest has not done him any good so I am back to square one and the lack of condition has made some of his other problems worse. We are now doing chiro and PT to help his back and get him more fit before deciding what to do.[/QUOTE]
I’m really sorry to hear this. I hope that you find some answers for your guy.
Thanks TWH – very sweet of you. I almost cried when I rode him after the vet visit. He’s such a good horse and was so happy to be doing something and was trying so hard. He’s one you can pull out of the pasture after doing nothing for six months and he will give you flying changes and hope you ask him for tempis.
Dune, is this the horse you posted about earlier that the vet didn’t want to ultrasound because he knew he would find something? And he wanted to do the bone scan? If so, that is rather ironic.
How did you end deciding to do the MRI and what was that like? What is the horse’s age? Which limbs are affected? Where was the tear found? Could you piece the piece together the story with a little more detail, when your eyes are done bleeding?
[QUOTE=LarkspurCO;8282942]
Thanks TWH – very sweet of you. I almost cried when I rode him after the vet visit. He’s such a good horse and was so happy to be doing something and was trying so hard. He’s one you can pull out of the pasture after doing nothing for six months and he will give you flying changes and hope you ask him for tempis.
Dune, is this the horse you posted about earlier that the vet didn’t want to ultrasound because he knew he would find something? And he wanted to do the bone scan? If so, that is rather ironic.
How did you end deciding to do the MRI and what was that like? What is the horse’s age? Which limbs are affected? Where was the tear found? Could you piece the piece together the story with a little more detail, when your eyes are done bleeding?[/QUOTE]
Yes, this is the same horse. Thank GOD I didn’t spring for the bone scan because even if the bone scan finally did what it’s supposed to do (and that’s a maybe in my book) and the hock-ish area lit up, I still would’ve had to go for the MRI. Cha-ching, given that this horse isn’t insured right now. To answer your questions: We ended up doing the MRI because said horsie blocked out to the hock area and X-ray & U/S were “clean”. The tear was found in the medial lobe. Just the one hock is affected. Said horsie does have a history of getting cast on that leg, falling on the leg, it is his “weaker” hind leg, BUT he’s never been lame on it. Was going well. I went away for the weekend and one of the “trainers” at my barn lost her horse on the longe line and he went barreling out of the arena and past my horse’s stall. I could just picture mine snoozing away as her beast surprised him. My chiropractor said it was like my horse “ran into a wall”. Once all the other “stuff” settled down, it was down to that hock and he wasn’t comfortable in front either, but that was compensatory. So here we go…will evaluate in about 60 days. If you have any other specific questions, feel free to PM me. I would really like to hear from others that HAVE gone the MRI route to these “mystery” cases. I totally agree with you, the expense and the risk of laying him down was terrifying. Now I’m like, what else did he injure waking up from anesthesia?? He did have a scrape on his front leg and where his neck meets his withers. I’m glad I did it but not sure I’d do it again, but what choice did I really have? I think most vets would’ve just injected his hocks and told the owner to keep riding, at which point I’d have a BIG problem. :-/
