# Collateral Ligament Desmitis - Distal Interphalangeal joint



## roxy007 (30 September 2008)

Has anyone had a horse with this problem and if so what was the outcome. Is it grim. Can it be treated successfully and are there specific causes. Also would a horse still eat well and graze if it were completely miserable


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## Halfstep (30 September 2008)

Depends as ever on the severity of the injury.  Has the horse had an MRI?  What has the vet said about treatment?  Special shoeing? 

Unfortunately this is a bad injury and treatment is difficult, usually includes a lot of box rest and careful hand walking on a hard surface, building up slowly over a LONG time.  

As for eating and grazing - yes, it would do so even if in chronic (i.e. not acute) pain.  I do wonder about the grazing however - I would think a horse with this diagnosis would be on box rest.


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## KIMBY (30 September 2008)

Our horse has this injury to the right fore warmblood competition mare age 10 .Been on eight weeks box rest walking out 5mins twice a day. Very very difficult to control her even with the drug modicate and acp tablets. She leapt about on several occassions . It was diagnosed by MRI scan and cannot be seen by ultrasound as our vet has tried which doesn't help to track the healing process. We have a visit this afternoon to our vets and possibly some shock wave therapy but yet to be decided on. Because the box rest has not been that successful i am going to discuss moving her on to paddock rest on good weather days until next year and see if nature takes its course as her temperament is changing from keeping her shut in which makes it more heartbreaking i will post later today or tommorrow after visit to vet.


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## Marchtime (30 September 2008)

I've had two horses with this injury. One was diagnosed six years ago when little was known about this injury as MRI was very new and involved GA. My horse was diagnosed using MRI by Sue Dyson at Newmarket, he was only the 4th case she'd ever seen. He had a ruptured medial collateral ligament. It took six months to get him diagnosed and this had led to the coffin joint beginning to collapse. His prognosis was very guarded. We box rested him for six months but he was still lame in walk on four bute a day and he was only 8yrs old. After consultation with Sue we called it a day.
I now have a TB with chronic wear to his medial collateral ligament caused by poor foot conformation. He was diagnosed using MRI at Liphook. His outlook was guarded and I was told I'd be lucky if I ever rode him again. He was diagnosed in January but had already been on box rest for three months. After talks with our vet we turned him away for six months (turn out for 5hrs a day, in the rest of the time). We chose not to box rest, it was a personal choice and something my vet and I decided was the right option for my horse. He returned to walk work in June. He is sound (touches wood) and now hacks and does some light schooling. Treatment wise he had shockwave treatment and steriod injections in to the coffin joint to lessen inflammation. My vet is very pleased with his progress. He will never jump and will never compete to the level he did previously (BD Elementary) but can still do basic dressage and hack.
Basically competition wise the prognosis is poor, however most return to some form of light work. Sadly as my boy was only 9yrs old when diagnosed it has meant a slower pace of life but I'd rather that than lose another. Keep hope. Vets aren't very optimistic (in my experience) however research has shown that recovery rates are improving. Early diagnosis is key and the main treatment is six months to a year off followed by a slow rehab.
Any questions PM. Sorry for the essay!


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## KIMBY (1 October 2008)

Hi

Went to the vets yesterday and we had some good news there was an improvement from the box rest , she was lunged in trot on both reins for 3mins and stayed sound not long i know but big improvement so then had first lot of shock wave will be three lots in total two weeks apart and today having shoes back on by a remedial farrier who will look at x rays first then we will start to walk her out under saddle exact programme not yet decided so we will se how we go from here. Keep in touch.


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