New hock treatment

[mellsmom]

Does anyone have access to the article written about the new treatment being tried to get hocks to fuse. It somehow involves the use of grain alcohol injections.

[RomeosGirl]

Sorry, no link to offer you, but the vet I saw 2 weeks ago at the University of FL was talking about this also. Said it was a relatively new procedure to help the hock fuse faster as a possible alternative to surgically fusing them.

[RomeosGirl]

Bump
We might be investigating something like this for my horse who's lame in the right hind currently. Anybody have any research/experience with this type of treatment? I understand it is fairly new, but I'd like to know something further about it.

[mellsmom]

there is ONE article published on it. They are doing it here locally with a lot of success. It's new and we don't have too much long term data on it up here. That's what I know. I am going to talk to my lameness vet and see whathe thinks.

[Ghazzu]

Variation on a theme, the general theme being chemical arthrodesis.

Major thing you have to be concerned about is that the joint capsule(s) being injected don't communicate with joints you *don't* want to fuse.
Oh, and septic arthritis, as with any joint invasion.

[Dressage.For.Life.]

Is the article online??

My 9 year old x-racer (turned dressage) was recently diagnosed with a large bone spavin (about 40% fused). Vet said some pain could be coming from hyper-extending hocks though (straight in behind). Being very lightly worked once a week with Bute for a day or so beforehand. Would like to do more for him but am wanting to stay away from surgery. But this might be worth trying to see if complete fusion helps him....and oh yeah, Legend and such did nothing.



there is ONE article published on it. They are doing it here locally with a lot of success. It's new and we don't have too much long term data on it up here. That's what I know. I am going to talk to my lameness vet and see whathe thinks.

[Phaxxton]

Sounds somewhat similar to what we did with my horse's hock injury several years ago... only, in our case, the alcohol was administered to the owner (i.e., me) as I waited impatiently for the @#%! hock to fuse.

[ponygirl]

Sounds somewhat similar to what we did with my horse's hock injury several years ago... only, in our case, the alcohol was administered to the owner (i.e., me) as I waited impatiently for the @#%! hock to fuse.

I know not funny, but funny!

[RomeosGirl]

Sounds somewhat similar to what we did with my horse's hock injury several years ago... only, in our case, the alcohol was administered to the owner (i.e., me) as I waited impatiently for the @#%! hock to fuse.

That sounds like too much drinking to me, considering I was told 3 years ago that his left hock was fusing & when we injected his hocks a few weeks ago they could still fit a needle in there!?!?!!:eek:

[MidlifeCrisis]

My horse had this procedure done at Davis 6 weeks ago. He's a 9 yo QH with bad hock arthritis. The distal tarsal joints were about 90% fused and the other tarsal joint was starting to fuse. The vet's comment about the hock xrays were that "they are impressive."

The joint is injected with sterile 70% ethanol. The ethanol strips off the remaining cartilage and kills the nerve endings. It's supposed to be painless unlike the previous injection protocol of acid. By my experience, it was painless. Prior to ethanol injection, they inject a contrast dye and then xray to determine how much communication exists between the joints.

My horse was sent home the next day and underwent a 6 week rehab of 20 minutes walking and 10 minutes trotting every day. After 2 weeks, I was allowed to give him Previcox

This week, he's back to work. I notice that he carries his hind legs underneath him more, and he's much more able to go down hills. Before it was baby steps downhill, but now he can march down a hill. Time will tell after the joints fuse which should be complete in 6-12 months.

[mellsmom]

I have sent an e-mail to my lameness vet. We will see what he says. I was told by him previously that my horse's hocks would never fuse. :-( Which makes me think that I have to do something to make them fuse if in fact that can reduce his pain. I simply cannot afford injections every 6 months. The last set had me injecting the left hock TWICE. My vet wanted me to consider IRAP in the future, but I'm not sure it will offer more than a temporary improvement. He also has a couple of other ongoing issues, but this seems to be the biggest problem right now.
The article is not available on-line to read. I tried that :-( If anyone has a copy I'd love to see it.

[foggybok]

This method does work, but as Ghazzu already pointed out, you need to make sure that there is no communication with the other joints or you will end up with a real mess.

It's an improvement on the old MIA protocol (which was extremely painful for the horse)

I am considering it for my old mare.....

[Fharoah]

Surgical hock fusion isn't an option for you? My horse just had pastern arthrodesis surgery, I believe the hocks are less invasive.

[purplnurpl]

Sounds somewhat similar to what we did with my horse's hock injury several years ago... only, in our case, the alcohol was administered to the owner (i.e., me) as I waited impatiently for the @#%! hock to fuse.

LMFAO
this post just made my day.
thanks.