Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Surgery to fix fused toes causing lameness in Golden Retriever
By Richardson, E F et al.·Published in Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association·1994·Department of Surgery, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Surgical management of syndactyly in a dog.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A Golden Retriever with a condition called syndactyly (where the toes are not fully separated) was brought in for intermittent lameness in the left front paw after exercise. The dog was having trouble because the skin between the toes was too thin, causing pain when trying to walk. The veterinarian performed surgery to separate the toes and used skin grafts to cover the area. After 11 weeks, the dog's lameness improved significantly, and it was able to be more active without pain.
People also search for: Golden Retriever lameness after exercise · dog toe surgery recovery · syndactyly in dogs treatment
Abstract
This report describes the treatment of simple syndactyly in a Golden Retriever. The left forepaw lacked cutaneous separation between the digits and had confluent metacarpal and digital pads. After vigorous exercise, the dog had intermittent non-weight-bearing lameness involving the affected forepaw. The lameness may have resulted from stretching of the thin skin on the dorsum of the paw as the digits attempted to spread during weight bearing. Surgical separation of digits 3 and 4 was performed by creating an interdigital web space with dorsal and palmar skin flaps and by covering the exposed axial surfaces with full-thickness skin grafts. At 11 weeks after surgery, the lameness had improved and the dog's level of activity had increased.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7890572/