Surgical PSD treatments involve neurectomy of the deep branch of the lateral plantar nerve (cutting or transecting the nerve) and fasciotomy (ligament splitting). | Photo: Erica Larson/The Horse
Perhaps better known as PSD, proximal suspensory desmitis can effectively sideline horses for months. Hind-limb cases can be especially challenging to manage—conservative treatment can mean a poor prognosis for a horse, and while surgery generally produces better results, not all horses with PSD are good candidates for it. The good news? Veterinarians can carefully select surgical cases to improve outcomes.
“A horse owner recently said to me, ‘Gee, it seems like hind-limb proximal suspensory desmitis is an epidemic among horses. I don’t remember this problem from 20 or 30 years ago,’” said Ashlee Watts, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, an assistant professor of large animal surgery at the Texas A&M University College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, in College Station.
,"enableCustomVotingWeight":"no","votingWeights":[]},"results":{"showResultsMoment":["after-vote"],"customDateResults":"","showResultsTo":["guest","registered"],"resultsDetails":["votes-number","percentages"],"roundPercentage":"no","backToVoteOption":"yes","backToVoteCaption":"","sortResults":"as-defined","sortResultsRule":"ascending","displayResultsAs":"bar"}},"style":{"poll":{"backgroundColor":"#ffffff","borderSize":0,"borderStyle":"none","borderColor":"#ffffff","borderRadius":0,"paddingLeftRight":10,"paddingTopBottom":10},"questions":{"paddingLeftRight":0,"paddingTopBottom":10,"textColor":"#000000","textSize":16,"textWeight":"normal","textAlign":"center","labelGap":12},"answers":{"paddingLeftRight":0,"paddingTopBottom":0,"textColor":"#000000","textSize":14,"textWeight":"normal"},"buttons":{"backgroundColor":"#e11548","borderSize":0,"borderStyle":"solid","borderColor":"#ffffff","borderRadius":0,"paddingLeftRight":12,"paddingTopBottom":6,"textColor":"#ffffff","textSize":14,"textWeight":"normal","align":"center"},"errors":{"borderLeftColorForSuccess":"#008000","borderLeftColorForError":"#ff0000","borderLeftSize":10,"paddingTopBottom":0,"textColor":"#801835","textSize":12,"textWeight":"normal"}}},"total_submits":"146","total_submited_answers":"146"},"elements":[{"id":"407","poll_id":"407","etext":"How does your horse act during bath time?","etype":"question-text","status":"active","sorder":"0","meta_data":{"makeRequired":"yes","allowMultipleAnswers":"no","allowOtherAnswers":"no","answersDisplay":"vertical","answersColumns":"2","answersAlign":"left","answersSort":"as-defined","multipleAnswersMinim":"","multipleAnswersMaxim":"","otherAnswersLabel":"Other","otherAnswersCount":1,"otherFieldType":"single-line","otherFieldSize":"small","otherMaxCharsAllowed":"0","addOtherAnswers":"no","displayOtherAnswersInResults":"no","resultsColorForOtherAnswers":"#058dc7"},"subelements":[{"id":"74015","poll_id":"407","element_id":"407","stext":"Loves it
\u2014<\/span><\/span>stands like a pro","stype":"text","status":"active","sorder":"0","meta_data":{"makeDefault":"0","makeLink":"0","link":"","resultsColor":"#058dc7"}},{"id":"74016","poll_id":"407","element_id":"407","stext":"Tolerates it for the cooldown","stype":"text","status":"active","sorder":"1","meta_data":{"makeDefault":"0","makeLink":"0","link":"","resultsColor":"#ed561b"}},{"id":"74017","poll_id":"407","element_id":"407","stext":"Only likes certain body parts sprayed","stype":"text","status":"active","sorder":"2","meta_data":{"makeDefault":"0","makeLink":"0","link":"","resultsColor":"#50b432"}},{"id":"74018","poll_id":"407","element_id":"407","stext":"Acts like water is lava","stype":"text","status":"active","sorder":"3","meta_data":{"makeDefault":"0","makeLink":"0","link":"","resultsColor":"#990000"}},{"id":"74019","poll_id":"407","element_id":"407","stext":"Bath time is a full negotiation","stype":"text","status":"active","sorder":"4","meta_data":{"makeDefault":"0","makeLink":"0","link":"","resultsColor":"#2f7ed8"}}]}],"total_submits":146,"messages":{"captcha":{"accessibility-alt":"Sound icon","accessibility-title":"Accessibility option: listen to a question and answer it!","accessibility-description":"Type below the [STRONG]answer[\/STRONG] to what you hear. Numbers or words:","explanation":"Click or touch the [STRONG]ANSWER[\/STRONG]","refresh-alt":"Refresh\/reload icon","refresh-title":"Refresh\/reload: get new images and accessibility option!"},"buttons":{"anonymous":"Anonymous Vote","wordpress":"Sign in with WordPress","facebook":"Sign in with Facebook","google":"Sign in with Google"},"voting":{"poll-ended":"This poll is no longer accepting votes","poll-not-started":"This poll is not accepting votes yet","already-voted-on-poll":"Thank you for your vote","invalid-poll":"Invalid Poll","no-answers-selected":"No answer selected","min-answers-required":"At least {min_answers_allowed} answer(s) required","max-answers-required":"A max of {max_answers_allowed} answer(s) accepted","no-answer-for-other":"No other answer entered","no-value-for-custom-field":"{custom_field_name} is required","consent-not-checked":"You must agree to our terms and conditions","no-captcha-selected":"Captcha is required","not-allowed-by-ban":"Vote not allowed","not-allowed-by-block":"Vote not allowed","not-allowed-by-limit":"Vote not allowed","thank-you":"Thank you for your vote","too-many-chars-for-custom-field":"Text for {custom_field_name} is too long"},"results":{"single-vote":"vote","multiple-votes":"votes","single-answer":"answer","multiple-answers":"answers"}},"date_format":"F j, Y","nonce":"5aeef4dfd8","page_id":56597,"tracking_id":"https:\/\/thehorse.com\/156597\/which-psd-horses-are-good-hind-limb-neurectomy-candidates"} 
