Purpley Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 My 15wk old stafford puppy had an unfortunate accident last night resulting in a broken humerus. She has been given pain meds and has a fentanyl patch on until she is seen and operated on tomorrow by Charles Kuntz. Just wanting to know if anyone else has had this injury occur in their dog, what the treatment was, how was it managed and what was the recovery like. Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Squidgy Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 My 15wk old stafford puppy had an unfortunate accident last night resulting in a broken humerus. She has been given pain meds and has a fentanyl patch on until she is seen and operated on tomorrow by Charles Kuntz. Just wanting to know if anyone else has had this injury occur in their dog, what the treatment was, how was it managed and what was the recovery like. Thanks in advance. I havn't had it happen but just wanted to wish all the best to the little princess speedy recovery baby :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Ouch! From what I've read , she has a good surgeon ..and , being young , should heal well. keeping her quiet now - that could be interesting :p Hoping all goes well tomorrow :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpley Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) Thanks thundercat :) Luckily she is already crate trained, so that is a ginormous bonus to her recovery. I have heard wonderful things about Charles Kuntz, and have also attended a lecture he did and he is extremely knowledgeable in everything. Thanks Persephone, I have been doing a fair bit of research today and the treatment seems to have a lot of success, and as you said being younger is a good thing also. Edited to make it make sense cause I haven't had any sleep. Edited June 11, 2012 by Isiss Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Oh Poor puppy, Hope she gets all fixed up and feels better soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pockets Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 There are really good hydro therapy places that will be good to help her recovery post op, to help build her muscles and good exercise without to much strain on the leg :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 I had a 17 week old Stafford absolutely shatter his elbow and it required pinning, screwing and plating. Lengthy recovery. Crate rest only for 6 weeks, gradual increase in walking and swimming after that. There was some concern that it would compromise the growth plate but didn't thankfully. We opted to leave the hardware in place upon recovery as it wasn't causing any issues. At 10 months of age, that dog entered the show ring and won a Specialty Best In Show at his first show. Nobody could ever detect he had an injury unless they were very close and you pointed out the L-shaped scars along his leg and elbow joint and the slight "knobbles" on the inside and outsides of his "arm" where the ends of the screws sat. He started to show some slight signs of arthritis at around 10 but not enough to slow him down. I'm told that Charles Kuntz is one of the best and would have every faith in him myself. Just follow rehab orders to the letter and with luck, your outcome will be as good as ours was. Hugs to you all. I know how stressful, scary and heartsickening it is. :hugs: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aussielover Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 The outcome will depend on many factors: The type of fracture (simple, compound, oblique, comminuted etc), the location of the fracture (ie is it close to the growth plate or even through the growth plate, is it associated with the joint etc)- this can make the positioning of surgical implants like plates more difficult, obviously the skill of the surgeon is a factor, the recovery period, physio, complications such as infection... you get the picture. Having said all this there are all sorts of cases, from simple to severe where the dogs do very well and return to normal function with no ongoing problems. Good luck with your pup, hope it all goes well :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkehre Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 OMG Isiss, poor Spirit, poor you. This is such awful news Charles is brilliant. I doubt you could have her in better hands. I don't have any first hand experience with such a break, but wish Spirit the very best recovery. She is such a gorgeous sweet girl and I know how much you adore her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Oh dear poor pup, you must be so worried... I can't help with advice but wanted to wish you all the very best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpley Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Thanks everyone :) Ellz - did u have to have the plates replaced as the pup grew or was it just one plate?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Thanks everyone :) Ellz - did u have to have the plates replaced as the pup grew or was it just one plate?? It was just one operation and all of the hardware remained in place forever. It was a judgement call really. We could have had it taken out but it had healed well and there were no obvious lasting effects so we decided against another procedure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpley Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 Thanks. I wasn't sure with the fact that they are still growing as to whether it's needed to replace etc. Appreciate the first hand info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellz Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 You're welcome. It's very much a case-by-case scenario and your vet is one of the best so let him be your guide. There are so many variables, that's what makes the whole situation so difficult. Hang in there lovey! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purpley Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Just thought I would update that the op went well today. It didn't go as planned. Charles was going to do keyhole using fluoroscopy, but ran into probs, so had to go in to get the pieces back together. It was Y fracture, so she has 2 pins and a screw. Can not fault South Paws. The care has been brilliant and they even sent me a photo to my phone to show that she was up and awake and being very brave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Awe, glad the surgery went well.. What a lovely gesture to send you a photo.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missymoo Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Glad to hear she is doing ok, poor little girly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 :) glad she has that out the way . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 I feel your pain. Last year my 11 week old pup fractured her elbow in 3 places, with one of the fractures through her growth plate. She had surgery the same day and got a screw and pin. The pin had to be removed as this was through the growth plate, but the screw is stayed. The post op instructions were no running, jumping or playing for 6 weeks. For the first week I found this very stressful as it is very hard to keep a pup still and I was so worried she would hurt her leg again. We ended up crating her whenever we were not home. Unfortunately as we work this was for long periods, but it was the only way to keep her quiet. I had to tell myself that is only for 6 weeks and if she does not heal well it will have live long impacts. As one of the fractures was through the growth plate there was a change her leg would not grow properly. Lucky this did not happen. She is now 16 months old and you would never know what happened. Some things that worked for me during recovery: - Find some games to play with your pup that require your pup to be still. Like food refusual games, sits, stays. You need to wear your puppy out by getting her to think. I found I would have to sit with her on the lounge room floor for hours every night. - Carry her around the house. Wherever I would go so would my pup. I would even lock her in the bathroom with me when I was having a shower. - If you can secure her in the car take her for drives. If you keep your pup quiet so her leg can heal she will be good as new in no time. Good Luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alyra Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Good to hear she is doing ok sounds like a great vet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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