Fractures Fractures Carpus surgery

Tilly is 18 years old, and as sweet and gentle a cat as you’ll ever find. She likes nothing more than going out to the end of the drive to see the school kids passing by each morning and evening.

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 to us at West Midlands Referrals 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. They were a closely guarded military secret because they got injured German pilots back into the air faster than ours!

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

We see loads of these cases at West Midlands Referrals, 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 perfect, economical, minimally invasive and straightforward way to immobilise fractures. Still, some issues relating to casts or splints make them less than ideal: We have delved into the issue surrounding their use at West Midlands Referrals.

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

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

A 4-month-old crossbreed presented to us at West Midlands Referrals 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 sheepdog, 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 an 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 to us ar West Midlands Referrals with a 3-week-old tarsometatarsal fracture luxation.