Bones scans

[bonnyben]

Ben is lame and has been for two weeks tomorrow.

He spent three days at the vets last week having nerve blocks and xrays on his near hind.

Nothing was found and now the vet wants to send him for a bone scan meaning a three/four night stay at Glasgow Vet School, invasive treatment and all for what? The xrays showed no bone fractures and he remained lame up to the stifle with nerve blocking...

I just can't see the point of putting him through all that (and it is very expensive too) although the insurers have said OK. And my track record is poor with horses, they always go seriously lame on me, so I am thinking just give him the summer off in the field with his pals.


Has anyone had their horse scanned in this way and did it help? with diagnosis and treatment.

Thanks in advance.

[racaille]

Very sorry to hear the lovely Ben is lame. Sorry I don't know anything about bone scanning. What are they searching for and is it treatable (other than by rest)?

[zara]

Really sorry to hear that Ben is lame. Regards to bone scans I could make a good argument for having one done and for leaving him well alone. A bone scan is done using radioactive isotopes which are injected intravenously then the bones are scanned to see where there has been "uptake". These areas are "hot spots" and indicate the area of involvement and can help the diagnosis.

The question you have to ask both yourself and your vet is " Will a bone scan alter the clinical pathway or outcome?"
If your vet thinks that a scan will answer some pretty specific questions and will potentially lead to prompt treatment and therefore recovery then go ahead however if the answer is vague then don't bother putting him through it. I would only recommend any invasive investigation if the question is specific and you are going to act on the result or change the clinical management.

I hope this is helpfu and I hope he gets better soon Zx

PS
some questions you may want to ask are:
What is a bone scan likely to show?
What are the treatments?
Will a bone scan alter his management?

[scattymare]

Oh BB thats really cr*ppy news. I'm afraid I'm no help with the scan either but what Zara says certainly makes sense.
Fingers crossed and sending lots of healing vibes to Benny boy and big (((hugs))) to you.

[fimacg]

Oh bummer, I was hoping to hear he was better.

My experience with Weipers (AKA Glasgow vet school) occured when Dexter got sent to have a bone scan, again insurers pre-authorised it, after they looked at him they decided that unless I want to try a really risky operation there was no point in doing the scan.

However, if you do take him in be prepared to hang around a lot as they don't like you leaving them with the horse even if they are going to be all day and you cant leave your trailer there (without you). 10 minutes is usually at least an hour and so on. I also saw 3 different vets during the course of Dexter's diagnosis and he had to have an overnight stay even though they decided in the end not to do the scan.

I am sure the quality of the work they do there is brilliant and Weipers is supposed to be 'the' place to go to for a bone scan.

BUT I ended up having to to do three round trips with trailer...
They also got their invoicing wrong and I had to sort that out as well, I'm sure they would struggle to organise a drinking session in a brewery.

[solomon]

Oh BB so sorry to hear this, just like Zara you need to know what they suspect. If it is something treatable then great. If he is still lame after rest and a period of time off, then maybe you will have no choice at that point. Do the really mean thing that vets hate and say what would you do if it was your horse? I hope your vets are honest with you. It is a lot for him to go through but if he can get better than its worth it. Great advice from Fi also who has been through it.

[fleabitten]

BB, sorry to hear this That is such bad luck! At least he is insured which is a bit of a comfort. I cant really say much more than what the others have said, its up to you.

When we were advised to take kieran to the hosp we werent insured and the surgery was only going to be investigative 50/50 chance of finding anything plus he would probably be messed up for a long time after that so we didnt bother with that, we just went for the scans -

We were going to buy a pony but she went lame and was lame from autumn 2008 to approx autumn 2009 - vets couldnt find what was wrong and they just put her out in the field and it seemed to resolve itself naturally. However, she was about 4/5yrs old. A year is a long time to wait though...

I really hope he gets better, its so awful when they are not tip top.

[ceej]

BB so sorry to hear this - poor you.

Does the vet have any idea what he is looking for Zara's advice seems very good...

[bonnyben]

Thank you everyone for your replies.


Rac, if rest would do it I'd go for that and that was my first thought, time off, but vet said scans have to be performed early as bone remodelling is going on all the time and may affect diagnosis.

Zara, the vet said "if it was my horse and I wasn't paying I'd have it done" He also said today that a bone scan saved his own life, so....

but I am coming from where you are - why put a radioactive substance into a horse unless something definite is going to come out of it? The vet said it was to eliminate just one more thing, he actually suspects it is soft tissue damage. I asked him what would the treatment be if it was for example a hairline fracture unseen by the xray? (he did suggest this also as a possible cause) The answer to that is several months cross tied...I suppose it would answer the outcome if it was a fracture because I can't go through that again, not after Ronan.

Scatty thanks pet


Fi - thank you, yes Glasgow gets a great name. He'd be there until he had weed away all the radioactive stuff and Ben wees as little as possible in my experience of him. Interesting that they will look at him first before doing it though, that might be reassuring as he seems less lame all the time, but that is only in walk of course.

Sol - I wanted 3 weeks at least to see if he came sound but the vet says you can't leave it as the scan is only effective if done early enough.

Flea, thank you pet, I do have insurance but only to £3k and that will be more or less used up after the scan so nothing left over for treatment.

I have talked about this to some other friends (including dear Wu) who assure me that now that I am in the hands of the vet I have very little choice but to go for it, so I will but I really don't want to have him hurt for nothing...

Thanks again, I feel so bad for him - all from a possible kick in the field.

[dannyboy]

BB, my heart goes out to you hun!! I can't offer any words of advice as I have no experience of this but I sincerely wish you and Ben all the very best. Big hugs. x

[scattymare]

How's he doing BB? When will the scan take place? Keeping everything crossed for you.

[brigadier]

Only just seen this- what a nightmare, all my thoughts are with you and Ben x

[kitcat]

I've only just seen this too. Thinking of you and Ben and fingers crossed for the best outcome.