Fracture Repair
Fracture Repair
As far as the long bones of the limbs are concerned, arms and legs of both cats and dogs are very similar to the same bones found in humans. These bones are often injured in fights with other animals, or they get fractured as a result of a sporting injury. Do not be alarmed, fractures are easily treatable, and we offer a variety of procedures to quickly deal with any problem needing a fracture repair.
Types of fracture
There are two different types of fracture:
● Incomplete – the bone is not broken in two, the fracture only appears part of the way through its circumference.
● Complete – the bone is broken into two or more pieces.
Complete fracture has three additional sub-types:
● Transverse – fracture is straight across the bone;
● Oblique – diagonal break across the bone, and as a result of this fracture two bone shards are created;
● Comminuted – when the bone is fractured into more than two pieces.
Treatment
The most common course of action is for the bone fragment to be immobilized. This way it will hurt a lot less, and any possible damage to surrounding muscles, nerves or blood vessels will be nullified. This is a low cost and effective solution to the fracture problem. In the event of a complicated fracture the pet will have to go to surgery. If you notice that your pet has a hard time walking, or if it acts like it’s in pain, call the vet to describe the situation and he or she will give you instructions on how to proceed. As long as you treat the closed fracture within 3 days, no further complications should occur.
Once the treatment is finished you will need to nurture your pet back to health. This means that your pet will have to stay in a small confined space and rest until its wound heals completely. If your pet was in surgery do not be alarmed if it doesn’t have a bowel movement for a few days. This can happen because they do not eat well during their stay at the hospital or at home right after surgery, and they need to be fasted before the surgery.