Wrist injury

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tdbmd
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Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Thu Nov 27, 2014 11:10 am

Happy Thanksgiving!

So yesterday we were out hunting with our 1 1/2 year old vizsla. Not real heavy cover and things were going well. Suddenly she is yelping and favoring her left front paw. When I got to her I could see there was a serious injury. Paw was out at 90 degree angle from normal. So, got her loaded up ASAP and to the vet. Turned out to be a dislocation of the "wrist". No fractures noted on XR. Reduced under anesthesia and splinted.

So my question is, what is the long term consequences, possibly? Anything now that I need to watch for? What, if any, rehab will she need? This vet was close to where we are hunting but he is not a canine ortho specialist or anything.

shags
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by shags » Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:04 pm

My dog has had fractures in the little bones of both"wrists". He was dead lame on each until they healed up, then was able to get along pretty well without any noticeable pain ( noticeable to me that is). His gait has been affected because of reduced range of motion; he's choppier than before.
We had him evaluated by the ortho team at Ohio State and it was recommended to put him on Carprofen as needed, fish oil cap daily, and Dasuquin MSM daily. He's doing well on that regimen - coming 13 years old and running every day with the young dogs.
The fish oil is from Walmart. Best price I found for Dasuquin is Amazon, and I get the large dog tabs and half them ( after the loading dose) to make it even more economical.

Speedy recovery to your dog.

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Fun dog
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by Fun dog » Thu Nov 27, 2014 12:29 pm

I think the biggest mistake many people make is not giving their dog enough time to heal. Let the muscles around the wrist tighten back up so they can do their job. Then get the dog on a good conditioning program before letting him rip.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Thu Nov 27, 2014 7:44 pm

Thanks for the information, guys

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dog dr
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by dog dr » Fri Nov 28, 2014 8:04 am

90 degrees to normal?? if that is true, and there were no fractures, then there would almost certainly be torn ligaments. Torn ligaments RARELY (if ever) heal on their own without surgery. Hope im wrong and she heals up fine. I like Steadfast as a joint supplement.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:31 pm

That was/is a concern of mine, in that does she need further evaluation of the ligaments. If so, I suppose there are canine orthopedic specialists?

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dog dr
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by dog dr » Fri Nov 28, 2014 4:58 pm

tdbmd wrote:That was/is a concern of mine, in that does she need further evaluation of the ligaments. If so, I suppose there are canine orthopedic specialists?
yes. your nearest vet school would be the easiest place to find one.

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AZ Brittany Guy
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by AZ Brittany Guy » Sat Nov 29, 2014 7:47 am

I have heard that Ohio State has a pretty good Vet school and I would imagine their Ortho team would also be competent. If you described the problem the way you did here, you would think they would have checked for ligament damage.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Sat Nov 29, 2014 10:28 am

The vet called for a update this a.m. and when I was speaking to him I did ask about long term issues. He said that after it was reduced, he did some testing while still under anesthesia and he felt pretty optimistic that the joint was tight after reduction. Not a 100% guarantee of no ligament damage, but reassuring, I guess.

Strangely enough, he said he had a lab come in yesterday with the same injury. He was really shocked with 2 similar injuries like that.

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dog dr
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by dog dr » Mon Dec 01, 2014 8:02 am

Sorry, I totally missed the evaluation by Ohio state! Your in good hands.

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AZ Brittany Guy
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by AZ Brittany Guy » Mon Dec 01, 2014 9:27 am

dog dr wrote:Sorry, I totally missed the evaluation by Ohio state! Your in good hands.
Dog dr, I miss guided you, Shags is the one who went to the O State Vets not the OP. Sorry for my confusion.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Fri Dec 05, 2014 11:37 pm

We changed out the splint this week and the vet was happy with how it looked/felt. At this time, another week in the splint. K-State vet school is closer to us here, so that might be the plan.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Sun Dec 28, 2014 6:59 pm

Well, some update is due,

After the second splint change a post reduction film was finally obtained at my insistence. The dog has a carpal dislocation, very obvious that it was not a simple dislocation and now some infection in the paw/pads. So emergency trip to Iowa State Vet school and she has been there all week. Starting to look better but will require a fusion of the wrist, hopefully in the first part of this week. Not sure about long term hunting with the fusion (like for next year) but she will at least be stable and pain free. I am a bit upset that the original treating vet did not recognize the severity of the original injury and mad at myself for not pushing a bit harder. Now we have the infection and treatment delay of 3 weeks longer than we would have had otherwise.

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Re: Wrist injury

Post by shags » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:29 am

Sorry to hear the bad news.

I don't know if all fusions are the same but FWIW, you should ask your ortho team about the necessity of the fusion. Hopefully you can avoid it. When my dog was at OSU we were told fusion can help relieve pain, but it severely affects gait...the vet explained to us that fusion would give zero range of motion and the dog would be more or less a Pegleg Pete and his days of running would be over. We did not opt for fusion. The dog has limited range of motion, but there is enough that he can still run, albeit much choppier than before his injuries.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Mon Dec 29, 2014 6:25 pm

They did say there is no motion at that wrist joint with the fusion but she has both medial and plantar ligament damage as well as dislocation of the carpal bone so really not a option for repair and the fusion will give her the best chance to be pain free. I am really bummed about how it is going to take this fast, athletic dog to a altered gait but not really a good option and we spoke with about 4 different vets.

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Sharon
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by Sharon » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:27 pm

Which is why they say that the cheapest part of owning a dog is the purchase price. I have a setter who has had 2 TPLOs. (ruptured cranial cruciate ligaments in the knees)
Good as new now . I hope the very best for your dog.
" We are more than our gender, skin color, class, sexuality or age; we are unlimited potential, and can not be defined by one label." quote A. Bartlett

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Tue Dec 30, 2014 5:48 pm

Thanks
Pads and infection appear to be healing. Might know more about a actual surgery date after tomorrow.

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Tue Jan 06, 2015 9:23 pm

Surgery was done on Jan 2nd, after almost 10 days at the Iowa State vet hospital to heal up the wounds/infection involving the pads on her paw. Bandage removed today and stitches out in about 8 more days. Looks pretty rough from all the infection and surgery. Skin is rough due to about a month in splints/bandages. Hope all starts to heal better now!

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Re: Wrist injury

Post by shags » Wed Jan 07, 2015 6:19 am

Here's hoping healing goes quickly from here on out.

You might be interested to ask the vets about using Vetrycin on the infected/raw skin. I have found it to be amazing stuff; small wounds like cuts and abrasion have healed over night. It comes in a spray, and doesn't sting ( from personal experience) so you don't have to monkey around handling the wound.
http://vetericyn.com/mobile/

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Wed Jan 07, 2015 7:48 pm

Thanks for the link, I will check it out. It seems that the pad wounds/infection is doing better. Now, just have to heal from the fusion surgery

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zrp
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by zrp » Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:03 am

tdbmd wrote: The dog has a carpal dislocation, very obvious that it was not a simple dislocation... I am a bit upset that the original treating vet did not recognize the severity of the original injury ...
I realize this is not going to be a popular response but I'm going to defend the vet a little. As a vet, we sometimes see emergencies when we don't have the perfect tool for the job and he/ she did the best they could in the situation. Most rural clinics have x ray capabilities, which are great for bone injuries, but no good imaging tools for soft tissue like ct or MRI... So if the joint "felt tight" that's the best diagnostic tool he/ she had at the time: their hands and clinical experience. The take home lesson here is to make it clear to your vet that the patient is an athlete ( because their treatment was likely more than sufficient for a lap dog) and what the budget is (because most of us are happy to send the difficult cases back to the old alma mater).

tdbmd
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Re: Wrist injury

Post by tdbmd » Fri Jan 09, 2015 6:32 pm

Well, I understand not having the equipment but in this case, he had the equipment. He took films pre-reduction films but the mistake was not taking post reduction films when the XR was available. And, the fact that this dog was a athlete is obvious, both in appearance, in the activity and verbalized by me at the time.

Give me a PM and I will email the post reduction film that was taken 3 weeks late, at the same clinic and see if I am being unreasonable.

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