• Collateral ligament injury in the hock

So three screws, two washers and two loops of wire were placed with intra-operative radiography to stabilise the joint. The wire will likely ultimately break through metal fatigue. Some surgeons use braided nylon for prosthetic ligaments but we find the sepsis (infection) that these are associated with unacceptable. In addition, they can easily fail through fraying on metal implants, and it is harder to tighten them correctly than with a wire twist knot.

Roxy will have splint support of her ankle for a few weeks, and then the proof of the pudding will be in the eating!

We may yet nee to fuse this joint with an arthrodesis (see separate article), but we decided to try salvaging joint function first in this young dog.

10th May 2017

6

Pre-op; soft tissue swelling is visible over the medial (inside) of the ankle, which is on the right of this picture, on the same side as the metallic marker

Post-op; three screws, two washers and two wires recreate the support from the broken ligaments

Post-op; three screws, two washers and two wires recreate the support from the broken ligaments