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Regular
Posts: 60
| I got a 7 month old filly just over a month ago. She has an umbilical hernia. It is 2 fingers easily. My vet said we would watch it and make sure it does not become strangulated. He said she may end up needing surgery later on. Anyone else dealt with this? Experiences? Is this something that is going to cost me an arm and a leg so start pinching pennies now? |
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Go Get Em!
Posts: 13503
   
Location: OH. IO | Â it won't cost much and I would get it taken care of now. |
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| If there are no guts protruding …
I have seen my vet use two bamboo sticks about twice the width and thickness
as a popsicle stick with two bolts w/screws on each end.
The baby is knocked out and he pulls the excess navel/skin between the two sticks
tightly against their belly and tightens the screws.
This pulls the muscle tissue and skin tight and it cuts off the blood supply
to the excess skin/navel and it falls off in about two weeks perfectly healed.
No cutting, no bleeding, no infections ..
If you can't find a local vet that knows how to do it …
PM and I will share my vets name with your vet …
I have been lucky and never had UH but most are caused by mare getting up
from birthing too quickly and jerking the navel cord out of its "socket" …
A babies Umbilical cord has a little ring around it about 3 inches from the navel that
is designed to detach at that point with ease with no other damage. Some may
be defective and tuff to break at that point.
GOOD LUCK |
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 BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | BARRELHORSE USA - 2018-06-01 10:02 PM
If there are no guts protruding …
I have seen my vet use two bamboo sticks about twice the width and thickness
as a popsicle stick with two bolts w/screws on each end.
The baby is knocked out and he pulls the excess navel/skin between the two sticks
tightly against their belly and tightens the screws.
This pulls the muscle tissue and skin tight and it cuts off the blood supply
to the excess skin/navel and it falls off in about two weeks perfectly healed.
No cutting, no bleeding, no infections ..
If you can't find a local vet that knows how to do it …
PM and I will share my vets name with your vet …
I have been lucky and never had UH but most are caused by mare getting up
from birthing too quickly and jerking the navel cord out of its "socket" …
A babies Umbilical cord has a little ring around it about 3 inches from the navel that
is designed to detach at that point with ease with no other damage. Some may
be defective and tuff to break at that point.
GOOD LUCK
That makes zero sense to me.
Once the decision is made, why not do it properly?
Umbilical hernia repair is about as simple and straightforward as gets. I’m guessing there’s a good reason why most veterinary surgeons elect not to fix something this easy with nuts, bolts, and bamboo shoots. |
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Member
Posts: 19
| I have a foal about 3 months old with a hernia. Hers is about 1 1/2 fingers. My vet suggest using the band procedure instead of surgery.
Having it done this Monday. It’s not expensive but definitely necessary to prevent issues down the road. Good luck! |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 618
| Both my 2 yr old fillies had it done when they were about 9 months old. It was super easy. We did it in the pasture. Sedated, laid them down, flipped them on their back and used a splint type rubber band contraption to squeeze it off. Took like two weeks, super gross as it heals but so easy and inexpensive to fix. I think it was $175ish per horse.
Just get it done, no big deal |
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | I would have surgury done as soon as possible. Save for it if you have to. The intestines fall through the hole then as the horse GROWs things get real complicated as the intestine that fell through get stretched and larger due to blockage. Sometimes your lucky but not very often. |
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 A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | If you can get two fingers in that hole then thats a pretty big hernia, a smaller one sometimes closes up on their own but one this size I would worry about it not closing so I would have it fixed now. Since you said your vet looked at it, did he not tell you how much it would cost you? I would be asking him/her what they charge. All vets are different about pricing so I would be asking your vet this question. I had one fixed about 20 years ago and its didnt cost much at all maybe around 75 to a 100.. But depends where you are. But I would NOT be letting my vet fix it with sticks and bolts like someone was saying on here  , thats just me I want it done right the first time around. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 990
| My mare was 3when they banded hers she is 9now I have it checked regularly so far so good no problems
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BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | Actually, I’ve done some reading on this since this thread started, and the use of banding or clamps is done fairly often, so there does sound like there’s a role for “non-invasive” techniques. Here’s my takeaway. Opinions vary on this, but it sounds like that so-called non-invasive techniques are reserved for small hernias or hernias of borderline size that persist after say 4 months of age. Umbilical hernias are “small” if they are less than 2 fingerbreadths in diameter....I’m talking about the actual defect, not the bulge itself.
Many of them in young foals close spontaneously, same as in humans. I’m guessing the banding or clamping procedure is just enough to facilitate closure of the underlying defect in the fascia.
There is a risk in larger hernias that the blind, non-invasive procedures could inadvertently trap a knuckle of bowel and that could lead to death of that piece of bowel, causing either obstruction, or peritonitis, or both. The advantage of open repair is direct visualization without the risk of blndly entrapping a piece of bowel.
The thing about hernias in general is that sometimes it’s the smaller ones that pose the greater risk, because once a knuckle of bowel gets trapped in them, the smaller defects are more prone to keeping that knuckle trapped and it can’t spontaneously reduce, nor can it be manually reduced.
I would defer to a good, experienced vet, but my inclination would be in favor of open repair for larger hernias, and reserve the banding or clamping for smaller ones if the vet is confident that there’s no risk of injury to underlying bowel. Cost has to be taken into consideration, obviously, but weigh that against the risk.
Edited because BHUSA removed his response he wrote earlier this morning.
Edited by Bear 2018-06-05 8:18 AM
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A Somebody to Everybody
Posts: 41354
Location: Under The Big Sky Of Texas | Bear - 2018-06-05 8:14 AM Actually, I’ve done some reading on this since this thread started, and the use of banding or clamps is done fairly often, so there does sound like there’s a role for “non-invasive” techniques. Here’s my takeaway. Opinions vary on this, but it sounds like that so-called non-invasive techniques are reserved for small hernias or hernias of borderline size that persist after say 4 months of age. Umbilical hernias are “small” if they are less than 2 fingerbreadths in diameter....I’m talking about the actual defect, not the bulge itself. Many of them in young foals close spontaneously, same as in humans. I’m guessing the banding or clamping procedure is just enough to facilitate closure of the underlying defect in the fascia. There is a risk in larger hernias that the blind, non-invasive procedures could inadvertently trap a knuckle of bowel and that could lead to death of that piece of bowel, causing either obstruction, or peritonitis, or both. The advantage of open repair is direct visualization without the risk of blndly entrapping a piece of bowel. The thing about hernias in general is that sometimes it’s the smaller ones that pose the greater risk, because once a knuckle of bowel gets trapped in them, the smaller defects are more prone to keeping that knuckle trapped and it can’t spontaneously reduce, nor can it be manually reduced. I would defer to a good, experienced vet, but my inclination would be in favor of open repair for larger hernias, and reserve the banding or clamping for smaller ones if the vet is confident that there’s no risk of injury to underlying bowel. Cost has to be taken into consideration, obviously, but weigh that against the risk. Edited because BHUSA removed his response he wrote earlier this morning. I'm guessing we were all stupid as he usually tells us?
Edited by Southtxponygirl 2018-06-05 9:22 AM
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 Champ
Posts: 19623
Location: Peg-Leg Julia Grimm | My advice is to have it repaired properly. A 2 finger or more hole in the abdominal wall needs to be repaired. Per my vet. The smaller ones you may be able to get away with banding. |
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 Reaching for the stars....
Posts: 12704
| My recently sick filly's report stated she had a 2 finger umbilical hernia. My vet, a slight built dude, reached under and checked and then said the person checking must have had fingers the size of pencils! There needs to be a more scientific measurement for these things. My filly has barely a 1 finger opening for me, just over 1 for my vet, and 2 for someone at Morven Park, so who makes the call on what she needs? |
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BHW Resident Surgeon
Posts: 25351
Location: Bastrop, Texas | OregonBR - 2018-06-05 9:47 AM
My advice is to have it repaired properly. A 2 finger or more hole in the abdominal wall needs to be repaired. Per my vet. The smaller ones you may be able to get away with banding.
I agree with this. Here’s what the banding does. It can work for some smaller hernias, and here’s why.
With an abdominal wall defect (hernia), bowel and omentum sliding in and out can prevent the defect from closing on its own. Pulling the skin and hernia sac tight will make it so that bowel won’t continue to do that. That will maximize the hernia closing off on its own. Most people only consider banding for smaller, borderline hernias. The key to fixing a hernia is to get the fascia defect closed...either through sutures, mesh, or spontaneously, in the case of small hernias. I just hope people don’t get the idea that this approach applies to all umbilical hernias. Surgical repair is a very easy, straightforward operation. |
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 You get what you give
Posts: 13030
Location: Texas | I'd just go ahead and get it fixed. Also, since its a baby, I would make sure you don't have any club feet and if you do, may as well cut the check ligaments while under the same anesthesia.
But my opinion is coming from a different perspective as I can just fix it myself (or run the anesthesia while my colleague does the surgery) so it's easier for me to say oh yeah get it fixed now. |
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
Location: Arkansas | Southtxponygirl - 2018-06-05 9:11 AM
Bear - 2018-06-05 8:14 AM Actually, I’ve done some reading on this since this thread started, and the use of banding or clamps is done fairly often, so there does sound like there’s a role for “non-invasive” techniques. Here’s my takeaway. Opinions vary on this, but it sounds like that so-called non-invasive techniques are reserved for small hernias or hernias of borderline size that persist after say 4 months of age. Umbilical hernias are “small” if they are less than 2 fingerbreadths in diameter....I’m talking about the actual defect, not the bulge itself. Many of them in young foals close spontaneously, same as in humans. I’m guessing the banding or clamping procedure is just enough to facilitate closure of the underlying defect in the fascia. There is a risk in larger hernias that the blind, non-invasive procedures could inadvertently trap a knuckle of bowel and that could lead to death of that piece of bowel, causing either obstruction, or peritonitis, or both. The advantage of open repair is direct visualization without the risk of blndly entrapping a piece of bowel. The thing about hernias in general is that sometimes it’s the smaller ones that pose the greater risk, because once a knuckle of bowel gets trapped in them, the smaller defects are more prone to keeping that knuckle trapped and it can’t spontaneously reduce, nor can it be manually reduced. I would defer to a good, experienced vet, but my inclination would be in favor of open repair for larger hernias, and reserve the banding or clamping for smaller ones if the vet is confident that there’s no risk of injury to underlying bowel. Cost has to be taken into consideration, obviously, but weigh that against the risk. Edited because BHUSA removed his response he wrote earlier this morning. I'm guessing we were all stupid as he usually tells us? Â
And only a few of us are from Arkansas---go figure  |
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 That's White "Man" to You
Posts: 5515
| Always try cortizone first. If it doesn’t work you are out $20. If it does work you save $480
Edited by Whiteboy 2018-06-05 9:11 PM
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Folks on-line