Fractures

Ralph, a 5 month old Yorkie pup, suffered a fracture of the proximal (top) end of his tibia (shin) bone just below his stifle (knee). This fracture involved the growth plate, the cartilage zone from which bone grows and which appears as a black line on x-rays near the ends of the long bones in growing dogs.

Kwazii presented with a comminuted (shattered), open (soft tissue wounds connecting the fracture to the outside) fracture of the radius and ulna (bones of the forearm).

This cat had a fracture-luxation between the metatarsal bones and the tarsal bones (bones of the foot and of the ankle respectively).

Interlocking nails are an innovation in fracture fixation that came from WWII, and they were a closely guarded military secret at that time because they got injured German pilots back into the air faster than ours!

Pablo, a cat presented to us with a tricky fracture of the femur (thigh bone). The bottom end that forms part of the knee joint was comminuted (multiple fragments).

We see loads of these cases, especially in Springer Spaniels and also in French Bulldogs, in increasing numbers as this breed is becoming more popular.

Dressings / casts / splints often seem like a really good, economic, minimally invasive and simple way to immobilise fractures, but there are some issues relating to casts or splints that make them less than ideal:

This right articular proximal ulna fracture occurred outside of the house in unknown circumstances about a week before presentation.

A mandibular (jaw) fracture occurred during a fracas with another dog.

A 4 month old cross breed presented with an unstable proximal tibial “dome” fracture ten days after the injury. Unfortunately an initial attempt to stabilise this with a splint dressing had not worked and had in fact caused some dressing sores.

This case is a favourite – a horrendous fracture, a challenging surgery, planning with CT advanced imaging, a lovely cat, patient and committed owners, and a great outcome. What’s not to like.

Nellie a 5-month-old female Border Collie, destined to be a working sheep dog, managed to break the ball of her femur off the rest of the femur. The fracture occurred through the growth plate.

A 2y old, 30kg racing greyhound presented after sustaining a injury on the track. X-rays showed a slab fracture of the right central tarsal bone, and of the medial proximal corner of the 4th tarsal bone (T4) too.

This tibia fracture in a growing dog was un-displaced and was fixed in minimally invasive fashion with a locking plate that was slid along the bone between two small wounds.

A 12y female cat presented with a 3-week-old tarsometatarsal fracture luxation.