Collateral ligament

[Arctic Cielo]

Anyone ever have a horse tear one of these? I came across a very nice horse, for free, that has torn the collateral ligament. The horse needs another 6-8 months layup. Just wondering what the outcome is going to be like and what type of treatment is reccomended? the horse currently is on turnout in a small pasture, and gets 2 grams a bute daily. A full vet work up is available from MSU, but I have yet to see it.

[Tucumcari]

This might be an odd question but which collateral ligament. As they are associated with most joints and their stability

[Arctic Cielo]

not an odd question-as I don't really know I guess. This is an article that explains it somewhat http://hoofcare.blogspot.com/2007/05/su ... on-on.html
I don't know if it is anterior or exterior. I am going to look at the horse tomorrow and I will read the vets work up then, and have more info before I decide to take the horse or not.

[Tucumcari]

Collateral ligaments are important in maintaining stability in joints such as the fetlock, carpus, elbow, hock and stifle

this is a small part of this article

http://www.equineortho.colostate.edu/qu ... yjoint.htm

[Arctic Cielo]

I am being sent the vet report today thru email. The horse was taken to MSU. They did xrays- no ultrasound and no mri- to determine he has a torn ligament, with bone fragments that came off with it. Is it possible to see the torn ligament with an x-ray? I didn't think it was but maybe I am wrong.
The owners of this horse said he came in from the pasture lame. All he had was a small cut on his leg, nothing deep just a surface scratch.

When I get the vet work up I am going to give them a call so I can see what they have to say about all of this.

[Arctic Cielo]

Here is the diagnosis test and results:

At the medial insertionof the collateral ligament of the pastern joint at the long pastern bone (P2) there are multiple avulsion fragments and periosteal and bony changes LF.

Both front distal limbs show moderate to severe remodeling of the apices of the sesamoid bones, indicative for moderate/severe fetlock joint arthritis.


diagnosis:
Severe damage with partial avulsion of the proximal insertion of the medial collateral ligament of the paster joint LF. The observed lameness is most likely caused by this rather new, severe injury.

Also, more moderate to severe fetlock joint arthritis of both front limbs, but this seems to be an older, more gradual process.

Treatment:
In most cases such a severe lesion to the collateral ligament will make the horse unsuitable for further performance career. Palliative therapy will be medication with bute.

A more intensive therapy will be arthrodesis of the pastern joint, but this treatment will most likely not make the horse useful for a jumping career afterwards.


The examinations performed were Flexion and rotation tests, and x-rayed.

Please any thoughts on this would be appreciated! Also, if this said horse was insured, would that make a difference on the diagnosis?

[ratherrapid]

is the problem sesamoids and ligment will heal completely--since i'm other than a vet, just guessing based on some experience with connective tissue injuries. sesamoids, unknown what injury to aspieces is, but, if sesamoid were actually torn away from normal position would that be a long term serious soundness problem in terms of galloping? maybe could trot though. I've seen horses with torn sesamoids breezed, and I'd like to shoot the guy that did it, but, the horse performed well. seems a little problemantical here, which i hate to say wishing best luck to the horse. maybe ask the vet if the sesamoid would heal??? as a very old person, i'm qualified to say i'd be unworried about the arthirtis. maybe this horse needs a light type rider?

[Arctic Cielo]

Thanks RR. I am going to give the vet a call on Monday, and see how they came up with this. The arthritis seems to be the least of this horses worries at the moment. The report said the horse is not sound for a jumping career.

[Tucumcari]

I would also wonder how much movement of the joint there actually is.

[KBEquine]

Here is the diagnosis test and results:

At the medial insertionof the collateral ligament of the pastern joint at the long pastern bone (P2) there are multiple avulsion fragments and periosteal and bony changes LF.

Both front distal limbs show moderate to severe remodeling of the apices of the sesamoid bones, indicative for moderate/severe fetlock joint arthritis.


diagnosis:
Severe damage with partial avulsion of the proximal insertion of the medial collateral ligament of the paster joint LF. The observed lameness is most likely caused by this rather new, severe injury.

Also, more moderate to severe fetlock joint arthritis of both front limbs, but this seems to be an older, more gradual process.

Treatment:
In most cases such a severe lesion to the collateral ligament will make the horse unsuitable for further performance career. Palliative therapy will be medication with bute.

A more intensive therapy will be arthrodesis of the pastern joint, but this treatment will most likely not make the horse useful for a jumping career afterwards.

medial collateral ligament of the pastern joint LF = ligament inside the leg on the left front pastern joint.

On the human knee, the 4 joint ligaments are median collateral [inside the leg] lateral collateral [outside the leg], anterior crucius [front of the leg] and posterior crucius [back one; don't know if I'm spelling crucius correctly, though]. For consistency, the medical community uses the same descriptions for all ligaments, etc., so medial is always the inside one closest to the center of the body & collateral is always the outside one, etc.

Anterior & posterior are generally the most important, at least on joints like knees; collateral helps control side-to-side movement & is a sort of strap over the joint to prevent it from bending too far in that direction. If a collateral ligament is damaged, there's no "strap" to keep the joint from bending too far & causing further damage, like a broken bone.

When you said the ligament was torn, that would indicate there is no strap. While doctors routinely replace torn ligaments on the human knee, we're not talking a ton of weight & an animal who may not understand the limits it can place on its new body part.

I believe the doctor is saying the inside ligament that provides support is damaged, the damage is old enough that there is arthritis & if you can't keep the horse comfortable with bute, you may need to fuse the joint, which would make sense on a decent broodmare prospect, not so much on a riding horse candidate.

Your question about insurance is interesting -- Whether the horse was insured should not affect the diagnosis, but may affect what the person who benefits from the insurance can do, if they want to collect the insurance. If someone who loves this horse is placing it, then they may have refused the insurance payoff because generally, once they get the money, the insured item becomes the property of the insurance company, whether it is your auto insurance & wrecked car, or 'loss of use' insurance on your horse.

If someone is trying to place the horse on behalf of an insurance company which has paid on a loss of use policy, by definition, the horse isn't considered useful [to them] so their options are to find it a home, if possible, or euthanize it.

I believe a situation like this was what got the stallion Williamsport to Old Friends.

Of course, I don't know whether any of that applies in this case, just speaking generalities.

My opinion -- I don't know your plans for the horse, but make sure a vet you trust who knows your plans for the horse reads the diagnosis & looks at the horse & can tell you just what the horse can & cannot do, before you take it on, unless you can afford to support a pasture ornament. Best of luck, whatever you decide.