Cutting the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon
February 25, 2013
When it comes to rotation of a horse’s coffin bone, there are several options for treatment.
Question:
Is it recommended to do surgery by cutting the flexor tendon in a laminitic horse who has an 11-degree rotation of the coffin bone?
For the answer to this question, the American Association of Equine Practitioners consulted Dr. Chris Bell.
Answer:
Cutting the deep digital flexor tendon is one option to help treat rotation of a horse’s coffin bone. The surgery is performed to relieve the tension of the DDFT on the back of the coffin bone and thereby, hopefully, prevent further rotation of the coffin bone within the hoof. There are no hard guidelines for when to cut the DDFT. Some soft guidelines include greater than 15 degrees of rotation, refractory to pain management or presence of the coffin bone through the sole. These are guidelines only.
There are several other options available to treat rotational laminitis. Depending on the severity and rapidity of the laminitis onset, other options may include anti-inflammatories, cold therapy, padded frog support shoes, styrofoam shoes, derotational shoeing treatments, etc.
You should discuss all the possible
options with your veterinarian and farrier before making a final decision. Some horses can return to some form of athletic work after DDFT transection (cutting the flexor tendons), but the decision should be made once all other options have been weighed and considered.
– Dr. Chris Bell, member of the American Association of Equine Practitioners
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5 Comments on “Cutting the Deep Digital Flexor Tendon”
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February 25th, 2013 at 5:06 pm
Please don’t do this to your horse. There are many alternative treatments for laminitis that people are successfully using to rehab horses feet. The standard shoeing practices, in my opinion, are also the wrong way to go. Find a good trimmer that specializes in keeping horses barefoot. After the horse has been trimmed properly, there are many methods you can use to get them moving comfortably. These include hoof boots with cushioned pads and fiberglass hoof casts. The key to getting the hoof healing properly is to get the horse moving as normally as possible as soon as possible without doing more damage. It drives me crazy when I see vets who are still duct taping styrofoam to horses feet. Granted this is better than shoeing, but in 2013 there are much more advanced alternatives. Most importantly, you need to address the original cause of the laminitis, most often diet, but could be a number of other factors. There’s a lot of information about these things on the internet, not all of it is good. A good place to start would be http://www.hoofrehab.com After that, talk to some good trimmers in your area.
February 25th, 2013 at 8:05 pm
Totally agree with Howard, please do not do this to your horse! Find out WHY the horse has the rotation, laminitis, etc. and fix the cause, not put a bandaide on the symptom! Natural horsekeeping, diet, trimming. Boots. There are so many alternatives than cutting on them! So many vets really dont study hooves at all and dont even know how to trim one, let alone how to achieve a healthy one. Research this people, research!
February 26th, 2013 at 2:12 am
Don’t do it! It’s a temporary veterinary fad, like so many approaches to human medicine which came and went. In the US, there is a make of therapeutic boot called Softrides which provide relief in very many cases. In the UK, there is Robert Eustace with his frog support, indeed taped to feet with duct tape – a bit primitive but works fine. There are hoof casts with softer plastic shoes in the US too. Lots of options. Surgery is not an appropriate treatment for laminitis. And in some cases, humane destruction also has to be faced as an option.
February 26th, 2013 at 5:49 am
Well cutting the DDFT is just one of the non-useful tricks some vets still hang onto. But if you want to do something cutting edge veterinary…check this out. Its in a peer reviewed UK journal and its absurd. Why dont vets just check out what the barefoot trimmers are doing rehabbing laminitic horses daily around the world. Its very frustrating. I recently referred a client with a laminitic and cushings horse with a HR of 60 and rotated pedal bones to a vet after trimming and booting it. The vet pulled the boots. Had no idea what a laminitis trim was and said the horse should not be on its soles. And gave the client the number for two farriers. Next thing the laminitic pony with cushings and pedal bone rotation all round, has shoes on. Anyway, here’s some more cutting edge veterinary hoof porn….
http://www.laminitisclinic.org/New%20treatment%20for%20acute%20founder/Coronary%20peel.pdf
February 26th, 2013 at 9:32 am
Glad to see I’m not alone on this, thanks for the support. Rebecca, thanks for the link to the coronary peel paper. That’s the perfect example of the mentality some vets have. “A chance to cut is a chance to cure” should be their motto. Just at first glance of those pictures I can see how the horse could have been trimmed to make it more comfortable. Follow that up with boots and pads and you’re well on your way, as long as you address the diet issues. I’ve read that they’re now doing some scientific studies at a University to evaluate the barefoot/booting approach to laminitis treatment. Hopefully they’ll get it published and it will start to get more attention from the veterinary community.