Subtotal Ostectomy of Impinging Dorsal Spinous Processes in 185 Standing Horses. Brink P. Jagersro Equine Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.
Objective: To describe a safe, effective surgical technique for subtotal ostectomy of impinging dorsal spinal processes (DSPs) of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae with the horse standing. Study
Design: Case series. Animals: Horses (n = 185) with reduced performance caused by impinging DSPs of the thoracic and lumbar vertebrae with pain confirmed by local anesthesia.
Methods: Affected DSPs were resected through a dorsal median incision, with the horse standing, sedated, and the surgical site desensitized with local anesthetic.
Results: No horse had serious complications. Short-term ( < 1 year) and long-term outcome (> 1 year) was obtained for 184 horses. Eight horses were unavailable for short-term, because they were convalescing, and 16 horses had not reached long-term evaluation. For the 176 horses available for short-term evaluation, 167 (95%) returned to full athletic function, eight (5%) improved but had failed to return to full function, and one had no improvement ( < 1%). For the 160 horses available for long-term evaluation, 132 were had full athletic function (83%), 16 were improved but not in full function (10%), 11 were not improved (7%), and one was worse ( < 1%). Owners of 180 horses (98%) were satisfied with the results.
Conclusions: Subtotal ostectomy of impinging DSPs can be performed, with excellent results, with the horse standing.