Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with crooked back legs from fibula growth problems and fracture
By Jevens, D J & DeCamp, C E·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1993·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
PetCaseFinder translated the abstract of this peer-reviewed paper into plain English so pet owners can read it. We do not publish original research — every detail traces back to the citation above. How we work →
Original publication title: Bilateral distal fibular growth abnormalities in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 6-month-old Shetland Sheepdog was brought to the vet because of a noticeable bend in its left hind leg. The dog had previously fractured the right fibula, which was treated successfully, but the left leg showed signs of abnormal growth. X-rays revealed that the left fibula was shorter than the tibia, leading to the deformity. To fix the issue, the vet performed surgery to correct the angle of the left hind leg. After the procedure, the dog was expected to recover and have a more normal leg alignment.
People also search for: dog leg deformity treatment · Shetland Sheepdog growth problems · puppy hind leg surgery
Abstract
A 6-month-old Shetland Sheepdog was examined because of a valgus deformity of the left hind limb. Six weeks earlier, the dog had developed a fracture of the distal portion of the right fibula, which was successfully treated by use of external coaptation. Radiography revealed valgus deformity centered at the left distal tibial and fibular physes. Radiographically, the left fibula was 1.5 cm shorter than the left tibia, and the right fibula was 1.3 cm shorter than the right tibia. A distal tibial closing wedge ostectomy was performed to correct the left hind limb angular deformity. The angular deformity was believed to have developed because of abnormal growth of the left distal fibular physis. It is likely, considering the displacement of the right fibular head, that the dog also had premature closure of its right distal fibular physis. The fracture of the right fibula may have prevented development of an angular deformity of the right hind limb.
Find similar cases for your pet
PetCaseFinder finds other peer-reviewed reports of pets with the same symptoms, plus a plain-English summary of what was tried across them.
Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8440636/