Hello,
Wondering if there are horse parents/owners out there who is dealing with high ringbone. I elected non-surgical arthrodesis of the joint which I feel best suits my horse’s well-being in the long run.
I discussed ethyl alcohol facilitated ankylosis with my vet. I have no doubt he could have done it well. I have a lot of trust in his expertise and I admire his compassion. However, he is a bit guarded because of the harmful risks of ethyl alcohol on surrounding soft tissues should it leak out of the pastern joint. He opted for Depo-Medrol instead. Also, we did 3 rounds of shockwave therapy prior to IA injection with approximately 30 days rest.
Injection went well. He could’ve palpated the joint, but I didn’t want him to go in blindly so I asked for an image-guided injection. We didn’t use dye like you would in ethyl alcohol injection. He was surprised how easily he got into the narrowing joint.
So that’s done… what can I expect next? Our goal is to help the degradation process of the remaining cartilage for complete fusion. Has anybody had a similar experience or heard of an outcome with Depo as opposed to ethyl alcohol?
Any input is greatly appreciated. Sorry, it’s a bit long. It’s my first post.
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“You don’t throw a whole life away just because it’s banged up a bit.”
~ Tom Smith
