Behind the Bit

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Riley's rads: Lovely new lamina! Posted: 12 Jan 2010 01:30 PM PST So take a gander at this radiograph of Riley's hoof taken 1/6/10, just prior to trimming/re-shoeing. The surgical defect has almost entirely grown out (compare to mid-September rads if interested). Note that it has grown more "out" than "down" (I didn't know the hoof grew out that way). The trim probably removed most of the remaining defect. Note also the terrible state of his hoof -- no heel, longl toe (again, pre-trim). While I'm not sure you can see it in the x-ray, he has lateral cracks in his heels as if someone notched them. Both the vet and the farrier expressed some concern about the crushed heel. I'm hoping some turnout and a normal life should help him regrow the shape God gave him. He was reshod in one Sigafoos glue-on on the surgery'ed hoof, and the non-glue-on version of the same shoe on the left. After this go round, he'll be in normal shoes, probably aluminum. The damage done Here is the damage done, the pedal bone loss. The July 09 xrays (below) showed about 5-10% bone loss: The first post-surgery radiographs showed about 15-20% bone loss -- seeing those radiographs was probably one of the darkest moments of 2009. The radiographs taken 1/6/10 (below) show no further loss, thank goodness. For mysterious reasons, the bone loss worsened following surgery. In case you're wondering, it doesn't grow back. The veterinary texts all say that a horse can lose "up to 25% of the pedal bone" without dire consequences. Riley needs to keep what he's got. He just has to. My advice I'm just the man-on-the-street here, but after going through all this, and talking to a few other folks (too late, alas), I would not do the surgery again. I got 3 opinions before going the surgical route, and after the surgery I got opinions 4, 5, and 6. I get the impression that the big vet schools are no longer using surgical approaches to treat bone infection in the hoof. There are some wonderful techniques for infusing powerful antibiotics without an invasive procedure, and that is becoming a preferred treatment. I'm not a vet, I'm not an expert. I'm just sayin'...

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