Smokeycat
Well-Known Member
Just got a call from the vet saying his surgery went well. When I got there this morning discovered that there was a bit of a problem. He was supposed to have a CT scan to confirm the presence of FCP but the CT scanner wasn't working. The scan was the non invasive procedure in case he didn't have it. I chose to have her scope his elbow which would have resulted in an unnecessary incision if all was good, it wasn't. The fragment was very tiny and has caused a little bit of wear on the humerus but there was also less arthritis present than there appeared to be on the X-rays. The original plan was replace any fragments with an implant but it turns out he's too young for it to be a good idea yet. The lower implant has a tendency to loosen and then fail after a few years, not too big a concern in an older dog but a problem in young (under 2) dogs because it would lead to a complete elbow replacement at 5-6 years. So to sum up his surgery he had 2 screws inserted to attach the top of his ulna to the rest of the bone, the ulna was cut to release stress on the screws to prevent them breaking and in a second incision the small fragment was removed from the inside of the joint. I get to pick up my little monster tomorrow and real fun begins. 2 months of healing followed by surgery on his right elbow and another 2 months of healing. Baring any complications he should be as good as new by Christmas.
