Orthopaedics

We’ve done arthroscopy for some time at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals in Burton-Upon-Trent, but in early 2016 we revamped and upgraded our kit. We now have 2.4mm and 1.9mm Storz arthroscopes and are seeing many elbows and shoulders for arthroscopic diagnosis and treatment. Maciej leads these procedures. Cases to be considered for arthroscopy are first seen by him in as an outpatient consultation.

Placement of a “camera” into joints – most commonly the elbow or the shoulder – allows for inspection with magnification and for some procedures to be minimally invasive without a fully open surgical procedure.

Arthroscopy is an alternative to CT scan for diagnosing humeral intercondylar fissure (incomplete ossification of the humeral condyle), typically seen in Spaniels. This is a line of weakness in the lower end of the humeral condyle that can propagate into a fracture (see separate articles on condylar fracture and Y fracture, in the case study section on fractures).

Tula, a 10 y  Cross bred dog presented to us at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals with right hind limb lameness asscoaited with cruciate ligament rupture in the right stifle (knee) and patella (knee cap) luxation (dislocation).

Roxy, and enthusiastic 34kg 8-month-old Labrador bitch, presented to us at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals with hind limb lameness associated with instability of the medial collateral tibiotalar ligament (the ligaments that run down the inside of the ankle). Ligaments exist to prevent the motion of joints in directions that is not desirable – in this case, preventing side-to-side motion of the hock.

Floki, an 11-month-old Cane Corso, presented to us at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals with right forelimb lameness and an un-united anconeal process. The left elbow anconeal process was united as normal. This large free mass of bone, loose in the elbow joint, was removed through a modest incision.

Harvey, a 7-year active male Labrador, presented to us at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals lame with degenerative joint disease (DJD) affecting digits 2, 3 and 5 of the left forelimb. The metacaro-phalangeal joint of the 3rd digit seemed the most painful on palpation, and this joint was one of the three that involved a principal weight-bearing digit.

Fusion of the tarsal joints is often indicated when there is irrevocable traumatic damage to the joint(s) often involving ligament damage. Some breeds like Shelties are especially prone to spontaneous collapse of the tarsal (and carpal) joints under normal loading.

An 8-month-old Shi Tzu pup presented at West Midlands Veterinary Referrals with right forelimb lameness and elbow incongruity with short ulna syndrome. This occurs because the ulna stops growing earlier than the radius, so that the ulna acts like the taught straight string of a bow and arrow, while the radius keeps growing and becomes the curved “bow”.