Accidents do happen... and bones do break! Bone fracture repair in dogs and cats is a skill that greatly enhances the health of our pets when the unexpected trauma of a fractured bone occurs. There are various methods of repairing fractures from simple confinement and rest with no intervention to internal mechanical fixation with bone grafts. One common method, displayed on this page, is the use of stainless steel bone plating devices to hold the fracture segments together while the slow healing process takes place.
Bone plating in dogs and cats has the distinct advantage of being secure, stable, strong and requires no external splinting or fixation hardware that would encumber normal mobility and comfort. The patient that underwent internal fixation surgery (an example of external fixation would be a simple splint or cast) in this presentation walked comfortably out the door the day after surgery and had almost no swelling or discomfort. X-rays of the healed bone six weeks later (below, right) reveal good union and new bone formation.
The patient is again anesthetized, the leg is opened and the plate, screws and wire are removed. Healing after plate removal is rapid and this patient made a speedy and uneventful recovery.
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Pre-operative x-ray
side (lateral) view |
Post-operative x-ray
Front-to-back view
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Healed
fracture, 6 weeks later
Front-to-back view |
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The Fracture Repair
Surgery |
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The surgical site
is
prepared for the procedure |
The skin is incised and
subcutaneous tissues separated |
The tibia is exposed
and
the fracture
examined |
A
stainless steel wire encircles the fragments |
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The plate is bent to conform to the bone surface |
Holes are drilled to
accept the bones screws |
The
area is examined for stability and placement of fracture segments |
The
tissues are closed
and skin secured with sutures |
There are many other surgeries displayed in ThePetCenter.com.
For a full index of dog and cat surgery procedures, look here.