"Casey" a 6month old staffy presented to the vets at Huntingdale for a sore leg that had occured while they were out playing ball in the park. "Casey" presented to the clinic unable to walk on her leg and looking very sore and sorry for herself. Examination by Dr Jules revealed a sore swollen knee and in particular the lower part of her knee. It was immediately suspected that "Casey" had damaged her patella ligament and in particular the bone that the ligament attaches to.

Obviously x-rays were to be required to get to the bottom of "Casey's" injury and to work out what needed to be done next. Casey was admitted to hospital, given a general anaesthetic and pain relief prior to the x-rays being taken. The x-rays showed a fracture of the top part of the long thigh bone causing tearing of the patella ligament from the bone due to the strong muscles pulling on it. After discussion with "Casey's" owners it was decided that surgery was the only suitable option. "Casey" was to undergo a 2 and a half hour gruelling surgery to repair the broken bone, involving metal implants and a compression wire to stabilise the fracture.

The x-rays below show "Casey's" damaged knee anatomy and her knee after surgery with the implants in place.

Due to "Casey" being a young, overly-active dog, the surgeons at Huntingdale decided that it would be pertinent to apply a heavy bandage (known as a Robert-Jones) to reduce her ability to use the limb whilst the fracture healed.

It was unclear whether the pins would need removal post surgery as they can cause irritation in the long term. However, "Casey" made such a good recovery and follow up examinations showed minimal pain or disfunction within the first 2 months, that it was decided the leave the implants in place. The Vets at Huntingdale are extremely pleased with "Casey's" progress and anticipate no further problems in the future.

Casey back to full strength                                                                                              AF