Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog treated for torn knee ligament and broken leg bone at the same
By Petazzoni, Massimo & Buiatti, Michela·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·2019·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Simultaneous fluoroscopic-guided tibial plateau leveling and fracture reduction for the concurrent treatment of chronic cranial cruciate ligament tear and comminuted diaphyseal fracture of the tibia and fibula in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 12-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier was brought in after being hit by a car, showing severe lameness in her right back leg. She had a history of a torn cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL), which had caused ongoing lameness for six months. After examining her, the vet found she had serious fractures in her tibia and fibula. The dog underwent surgery to fix both the fractures and the CrCL tear at the same time using a special external fixator. Remarkably, both fractures healed within 16 weeks, and at her follow-up visit, she was walking normally again.
People also search for: dog leg fracture treatment · CrCL tear surgery in dogs · American Staffordshire Terrier lameness after injury
Abstract
CASE DESCRIPTION A 12-year-old obese spayed female American Staffordshire Terrier was admitted for evaluation of acute non-weight-bearing lameness of the right pelvic limb attributed to motor vehicle-related trauma that occurred 2 hours previously. The owners reported a chronic, progressive weight-bearing lameness of the right pelvic limb secondary to a complete cranial cruciate ligament (CrCL) rupture that was diagnosed 6 months previously. They had declined surgery for CrCL repair because of the advanced age of the dog. CLINICAL FINDINGS Physical examination revealed a 2-cm skin wound on the craniomedial aspect of the midtibial region. The dog had non-weight-bearing lameness of the right pelvic limb with associated muscle atrophy and signs of pain on palpation of the right tibia. Radiography was performed, and tibial and fibular fractures were diagnosed. The fractures were classified as second-degree open, severely comminuted, complex nonreconstructible diaphyseal fractures. TREATMENT AND OUTCOME The tibial fracture and CrCL rupture were treated by closed reduction and simultaneous tibial plateau leveling by indirect fluoroscopic-guided alignment, plus stabilization with a monoplanar external fixator. The 2 main tibial fragments were manipulated via the frame clamps to restore limb length and alignment and tibial plateau slope. Both the tibial and fibular fractures healed within 16 weeks after surgery. At the 2-month recheck examination after implant removal, the dog was walking normally. CLINICAL RELEVANCE Simultaneous treatment of tibial fracture and CrCL rupture with unilateral external fixation was successful in this dog and may be helpful in similar cases.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30779619/