Mr Fantasy Update

Mr. Fantasy is recovering comfortably at Dr. Baker's farm after surgery on both front ankles yesterday afternoon at Woodford Equine Hospital. Dr. Baker report that there was a good amount of cartilage damage in both ankles, more so in the right. There was also synovitis, or inflammation of the membranes within the joint. Doc was able to clean up the cartilage and remove the bone chips. There was also some bone grooving that he was able to smooth out. Upon completion of the surgery, Polyglycan was injected into both ankles. Polyglycan is a patented formulation designed to replace synovial fluid lost during surgery. Polyglycan contains naturally occurring components of synovia that play a central role in maintaining the homeostatic environment of the joint. Click here to learn more about it.
Dr. Baker gave our colt a 50-50 chance of returning to a high level of competition. The surgery was a success, and we were able to clean up the joints, but only time will tell if enough healing and cartilage regeneration will occur to withstand the rigors of training. Mr. Fantasy will be out of training for 4-5 months.
In two weeks, each ankle will be injected with hylaronic acid as part of post-surgical protocol. Hylaronic acid stimulates production of healthy joint fluid and decreases cartilage damage. Click here to see some very good images of healthy joints and joints with cartilage damage.
Two weeks after injection of hylaronic acid, Mr. Fantasy will begin Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP therapy). After taking a sample of the his blood, in minutes a high-speed centrifuge separates blood plasma rich in platelets from the red blood cells. This PRP with its associated growth factors is then immediately injected into the soft tissue of the ankle creating what some call a "super-clot" that serves to help create a biologic scaffold upon which the body's own cells migrate and produce new collagen fibrils along lines of tension in the structure being treated. PRP is a fast, stall-side treatment that uses the horse's own cells and molecules to stimulate more rapid and stronger healing in a variety of structures.