Fracture in Growth Plate
Submitted by Ltlital on December 10, 2013 - 4:42pmOur little Tater is 8.5 months old. He was limping really bad on his front leg so we got it checked today. The X-ray showed a compression fracture in the growth plate of the ulnar bone near his wrist. They recommended crate rest and some vetprofen. Anyone had this experience? I'm worried.
I don't have any experience with this in dogs. I know it can be
pretty serious with humans. I hope the crate rest will help and maybe a second opinion with an orthopedic. Best of luck to Tater.
Fractures
Ester got a hairline fracture in a hind leg when she was about 10 wks old. At that age crate rest was all that we did, some anti-inflammatories and mild pain meds for a few weeks. At 6 weeks they did another xray and she was good to go. Of course at 10 weeks healing of that mild fracture was pretty quick, so I would expect an little older puppy to take longer to heal.
I would make sure along with the crate rest that all in/out door activities are on leash so there are no unexpected zoomies. Also if he is overweight take some lbs off.
Agree a specialist might be recommended for a 2nd opinion, but they rarely cast a dog unless it is a severe fracture that requires pins/screws, etc.
You also might want to ask about hydrotherapy. A friend had a bulldog fracture an elbow and she said the hydro therapy worked wonders. He used an underwater treadmill.
Growth Plate
I haven't any experience with dogs and fractures but I will share what I have learned after working a few years with an orthopedic surgeon. In humans the growth plate of a bone is just that..it's the place where further bone length and growth occurs. With humans, a baby/child who's growth plate has not "closed" is akin to a medical emergency. Proper splinting or casting takes place immediately to stop any chance of further disruption of the growth plate.If it heals improperly there is usually leg length discrepancy. In other words one leg longer than the other.
Perhaps at least a phone call to a vet orthpod would be in your pup's best interest?
Maggie Porkchop and Bubba
Update
Thanks for all the responses. My vet consulted an ortho specialist and he agreed with everything 100%. They don't want anything splinted because he is not done growing. He is doing quite well though and he is only on 1/4 of the pain meds they wanted him on. When I had him on the full dose he was running around like a crazy man. Hopefully it will heal with no long-term effects, only time will tell. He has a checkup next week.