Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Healing of broken kneecaps in two young kittens after surgery and rest
By Hermer, J V et al.·Published in Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology : V.C.O.T·2012·University of Cambridge, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Healing of patellar fractures in two kittens.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
Two kittens, aged four to five months, were brought in with fractures in their kneecaps (patellar fractures). One kitten had fractures in both knees; the right knee was treated with a pin and wire, but when that failed, surgery was done to remove part of the kneecap. The left knee was treated without surgery and healed completely after eleven months. The second kitten had surgery with a wire and showed signs of healing twelve weeks later. Both kittens healed well, demonstrating that these types of fractures can recover with the right treatment.
People also search for: kitten knee injury treatment · patellar fracture in cats · kitten surgery recovery time
Abstract
Two kittens aged between four and five months were presented having sustained patellar fractures. In both cases, healing was subsequently documented radiographically; this has not been reported previously in the literature. One kitten had bilateral patellar fractures - the symptomatic right stifle was treated with a pin and tension-band-wire which later failed, at which point partial patellectomy was performed. The fracture of the left patella was minimally displaced and was treated conservatively. A radiograph of the left patella taken eleven months after initial presentation showed complete healing of the fracture. The second case was treated surgically with a circumferential wire; healing of the fracture was demonstrated radiographically at twelve weeks postoperatively. Radiographic images taken five weeks postoperatively had shown some narrowing of the fracture gap. These two cases demonstrate that bony union of patellar fractures can be documented, given a long enough duration of radiographic follow-up; circumferential wire was an effective treatment in a displaced fracture, and conservative treatment resulted in complete healing of a minimally displaced fracture.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22366963/