Fractures

Pelvic fractures are commonly referred. Modern locking plating techniques have greatly improved the treatment of many of these injuries.

We get a lot of long bone fractures referred to us here in Burton-Upon-Trent, and this case history of a tibial fracture in a middle-aged greyhound illustrate the sorts of things we need to think about and address when managing these cases.

External fixation is a way of fixing fractures that sometimes troubles owners but rarely troubles their pets! Pins come out through the skin and are joined to a connecting bar by a series of clamps.

Nancy, a middle aged grey hound was kicked one weekend by a horse in the London area and suffered a broken humerus. The case was seen promptly at the local Vets Now emergency clinic. The owner rang us as they had been estimated £6000 for specialist fixation of the fracture.

Here at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals we see this frequently in cats that have been shunted from behind by cars, often in association with other pelvic injuries.

A much loved 13-year-old cat called Chalk presented to us at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals after severe trauma, including a fracture/luxation on the right side of the pelvis and multiple fractures affecting the left side of the pelvis.

Poppy, a much loved cat, went missing in the Derby area for weeks over the summer of 2013. It is a mystery how she survived with severely displaced and comminuted (fragmented) fractures of the humerus of her upper right forelimb and the femur of her upper left hind limb. She was, almost incredibly, managing to walk on her two remaining legs.

Pelvic fracture is a common injury in cats after road traffic accidents we see them frequently at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals. We often use modern locking plates to stabilise these injuries. Nice alignment of the pelvis can usually be achieved by placing this from dorsally (ie from the top). This does mean working the plate under the major nerve to the hind limb, the sciatic nerve.

At West Midlands Veterinary Referrals, we regularly get cats referred for treatment of fractured jaws after being injured in road traffic accidents. We have been doing at least one of these cases weekly for a month or two recently.

Radius and ulna fractures are common in small-breed dogs. These injuries can often affect both forelimbs simultaneously, and these small dogs' fractures have acquired a reputation for being at increased risk of non-union (failure of the bone ends to reunite).