Wizard’s Veterinary Report: 5/30/12

Posted on by Sarah K. Andrew

The vet evaluated Wizard’s lameness on Wednesday morning, May 30. We began with her palpating his front limbs and examining his overall appearance. We had been in touch about his weight loss, but upon inspection, she confirmed that he lost well over 100 pounds since our last exam in April. He is now on 2 acres of pasture 24/7 and the same amount of grain as he got at the old barn, so he is simply stressing it off. He is finally in his permanent paddock, so I’m hoping that he will gain everything back soon. She said that horses can gain 20 pounds in a week when they are relaxed and not stressed.

The vet did 4 blocks: Palmar Digital Block, Basisesamoid Block, Low 4 Point Block, and Proximal Suspensory Block.

The Palmar Digital Block covered the following:

Structures Anaesthetized

All of structures with PD
P 2, 3
Pastern Joint
Coffin Joint
Entire corium
Dorsal branch of the suspensory ligament
Extensor tendon insertion
Entire foot

Common Conditions Diagnosed

Laminitis
Ring Bone
P3 Fractures
Solar Pain
Subsolar Abscess
Pedal Osteitis

The Basisesamoid block covered the following:

Structures Anaesthetized

All of structures anaesthetized by PD n.block
Three phalanges
Coffin and Pastern joints
Entire corium
Entire sole
Dorsal branches of suspensory ligament
Digital extensor tendon
Distal sesamoidean ligaments
+/- Proximal sesamoid bones
+/- Palmar fetlock joint

Common Conditions Diagnosed

Laminitis
Ring bone
Soft tissue injuries of pastern
Occasionally block fetlock or sesamoid problems

The Low 4 covered the following:

Structures Anaesthetized

All structure of previous block (all of structures distal to the location of nerve block)
Navicular structures
Soft tissue structures of pastern and foot
Sole, Laminae
Three phalanges
Coffin and Pastern and Fetlock joint
Distal Digital tendon Sheath

As we did the Proximal Suspensory block, I could feel my back twist up with the stress of a possible outcome. But there was no change with the suspensory block- WHEW!

While none of the blocks made a significant difference in Wizard’s lameness, the Palmar Digital Block and the Low 4 Point Blocks made a little difference each. But it was not exactly dramatic. It was really subtle. Added to that, Wizard was hollering for mares and not really trotting the way the vet needed. She wanted him relaxed so she could see his true movement. We gained a good amount of information, but not enough to pinpoint which joint was causing issues. It could be his foot, his ankle, or his knee. Also, Wizard was not as lame as he was in the video (above). The vet said that the lame the horse is, the easier it is to diagnose.

So the next plan is to wait til he settles more and is a better candidate for lameness exams. Or wait til he is lamer. And so we wait…