# Sacroiliac Joint Steroids Injections...



## GinnieRedwings (23 November 2011)

... your experiences please?

Problem, diagnosis & outcome would be great.

Many thanks


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## GinnieRedwings (23 November 2011)

Found this 

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forum...d.php?t=495017

Anyone else's horse had it done?


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## neddynesbitt (23 November 2011)

Hello, my horse had this done at Rossdales in August 2010. I am very sad to say it lasted exactly 1 year and 6 days precisely


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## GinnieRedwings (24 November 2011)

neddynesbitt said:



			Hello, my horse had this done at Rossdales in August 2010. I am very sad to say it lasted exactly 1 year and 6 days precisely 

Click to expand...

That actually sounds good going NeddyNesbitt 

I was told by my vets that _IF_ this works, I might have to repeat the treatment as often as 2 to 3 times a year  
I'll be chuffed 1) if it works & 2) if I only have to do it once a year!

Thank you for your response and I hope you won't mind me asking a bit more:
What were your horse's symptoms? How did things improve after the treatment? How much were you able to do? Why did you not try and treat again? What did you decide to do with your horse in the end ?


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## itsonlyme (24 November 2011)

My little mare (12.2hh) displayed bi-lateral lameness behind, so was sent to leahurst and disgnosed with SI issues after a bone scan.  The SI joint was medicated there and then.  That was a few months ago now.  We have been advised to give her the winter off and start bringing her back into work in the spring.  She's deffo better than she was though - you can see from the way she prats about in the field!  Only time will tell...

What's the story with yours?


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## foxy (24 November 2011)

My horse was medicated in March this year, he spent 3 wks on box rest with in hand walking twice a day and then was allowed out for a few hours. I spent all summer building him up slowly and he was going really well whenge went he badly lame. He has now been diagnosed with DJD in his hocks. The vet is sure the issue with his hocks was masked by the sacroiliac problems. So make sure you get your horse throughly checked by the vet.


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## wyrdsister (24 November 2011)

Hi,

In my experience, these can be quite effective. My life partner mare had two courses, a year apart, with physiotherapy and a careful exercise regime, and her sacroiliac injury improved to the point where it was no longer causing a problem. Unfortunately, compensating for it damaged her supraspinous ligament and somewhere in a catalogue of concomitant hoof-related issues, she also wrecked her DDFTs in both front feet and fractured her withers. She's sound as a field ornament, but that's about it now! Watch out for compensation injuries/other injuries being masked by this one...

~WS


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## neddynesbitt (24 November 2011)

GinnieRedwings said:



			That actually sounds good going NeddyNesbitt 

I was told by my vets that _IF_ this works, I might have to repeat the treatment as often as 2 to 3 times a year  
I'll be chuffed 1) if it works & 2) if I only have to do it once a year!

Thank you for your response and I hope you won't mind me asking a bit more:
What were your horse's symptoms? How did things improve after the treatment? How much were you able to do? Why did you not try and treat again? What did you decide to do with your horse in the end ?
		
Click to expand...

His symptoms were initially being nappy then bucking when asked to canter. After the injection things improved dramatically BUT we discovered like others have said that he had compensation probs  he also had problems with hind suspensories & LH stifle. He had navicular too.

After all these problems he was never going to be a competition horse so we downgraded him to a hack. It all ended very badly on 26 Aug when he went crazy in the field and was so dreadfully lame behind  we made the sad decision to PTS as if he couldn't even run around with his friends without hurting himself then it was no life for him.

We don't know for sure but 99% certain it was sacroiliac again and yes he could have come right with rest BUT he really objected to box rest in the past and I had to think very carefully who I was doing it for. 

We really miss him, he was such an amazing horse and had the right brain for competition but sadly not the body. He was only 11 when we lost him


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## GinnieRedwings (25 November 2011)

Oh dear,

I am very sorry to hear about your stories, Neddynesbitt, Wyrdsister & mll. And Itsonlyme, hope it goes well for your pony.

My mare is a 16.2hh ISH. She can jump the moon and was hammered as a youngster. She is 12 years old. I bought her 5 years ago, for peanuts, after the previous owner got a LOU for her. 

She was sound, but displayed a variety of behavioural issues, both on the ground and under saddle, which meant riding was always a challenge for her previous owner, who was convinced there was a physical issue, but after she was x-rayed and bone-scanned from head to toe, she was sent home as a "nutcase that needs shooting" by very well-known Newmarket vets. 

Her previous owner tried to ride through it. The mare always threw her to the right (the saddler ended up building the saddle on one side to compensate), bunny hopped in canter, bucked when forced to collect and after every jump. A girl who rode her for the owner ended up getting hurt. That's when the LOU was obtained. 

She is really, really well bred and a very striking animal. I bought her and gave her time off, bred 2 fantastic foals, did a lot of work in hand and ended up with the most loyal, affectionate and obedient animal I have ever had the pleasure to own. I started her back in work in February this year and worked long and low and very very slowly built up on it. But at the beginning of the summer, coinciding with the time I started to work her harder and do more canter work, she started to feel "lazy", which isn't like her at all. It felt a lot like driving with the handbrake on. The canter was poor, on the forehand and there was always a bunny hop in the downwards transition from canter to trot. I didn't push her, because I was grateful that she had chosen to just slow down,rather than explode like she did with her previous owner. Call me naive, I put that down to our great relationship 

Having eliminated any hock & lower back leg issue, this is the last resort...

I understand SI injury/arthritic changes are extremely common and also extremely difficult to diagnose for definite. The Dyson/Murray study of 2004 is a real eye opener:

http://www.igloo.lv/horses/harm/sacroiliac_pain.html

The puzzling thing about all of this is that the post-treatment rehab advice seems to vary wildly from vet to vet. Mine advised me NOT to let her have any box rest. 7 days paddock rest, 7 days on the lunge, then build up ridden work like you would do with a horse that has had a lot of time off. Others vary from a couple of days off then on straight lines in long reins for 2 days then just go! to 3 months on box rest....

So, I'll just have to push on and make sure she see the physio every couple of weeks for a while and hope for the best! 

Wish me luck!


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## loopylucifer (25 November 2011)

one that i look after has SI injection at the begining of the year. 
She had other back problems which she had had medication for and physio. Original she didn't show any signs of SI pain but as her problems were unravled she showed signs of SI pain. she had Joint injections and more physio (under sedation) and she improved more and more. Due to her other problems bit hard to say what the symptoms were for that but in general i would say she lacked top line, no impultion from behind, intermitent low grade lameness, very grumpy to tack up, toe draging especially going down hills and when the vet palpated that area she tried very hard to take his knee caps out!
touch wood all is good still she is in very regualy work inc some jumping  (just small)
time will tell


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