I have been anxiously awaiting today to come since Pine Top. We don't have a final resolution, but at least we have a diagnosis. Brett, Shanon's excellent vet was luckily down and able to perform the exam.
We're 9 days out from XC. For those not familiar, hairline fractures may not show up right away. A week to 10 days they should be clear on the X-Rays. At the time of the accident, no fractures were apparent.
The exam started with an ultrasound of the joint. All of the menisci look to be in good shape, very good news being that they would be very difficult to heal. Unfortunately, their appeared to be a significant fracture in the medial aspect of the patella. The news did not sound good.
This along with a significant about of joint fluid was not painting a good picture. We moved on to the radio-graphs. No fracture was present in the lateral views. The skyline view did however show the fracture. It didn't appear all that bad, not that a fracture is good. Our vet Greg Staller is on a plane at the moment to California, so were waiting for the morning to confirm a course of action. The tentative plan is to harvest stem cells for later injection. Tomorrow we'll drain the joint and inject PRP. We'll also continue the aggressive course of anti-inflammatory drugs, icing and lasering.
Tomorrow we'll have a vet conference to confirm the course of action, and execute it. The long term prognosis is guardedly positive. I can't help but feel sorry for the poor horse. He's about the most genuine type that you'll ever meet, the last thing you'd like to see is have him in pain.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Check back for updates.
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