Dexter is an adorable 5 month old English Bull Terrier. He recently presented to us as an emergency only 10 minutes after being hit by a car. It was obvious that he had injured his left forelimb. He was admitted to our hospital for the treatment of shock and to assess whether he had any internal injuries.
A CT scan was performed. This revealed a left humeral fracture, bruising to his lungs and pneumothorax (air in the space around his lungs) He was hospitalised for pain relief, close monitoring and intravenous fluid therapy.
We are pleased to report Dexter remained stable over the next 3 days, he was eating well and very bright, therefore he was anaesthetised in order to take radiographs and make a plan for surgical repair of his fracture.
On the day of surgery, Dexter was anaesthetised and the area surgically prepared by our nursing team. The repair was carried out by Martin and Rupert – the left humeral fracture was reduced and a plate was secured in place over the fracture site with screws. An Intra-medullary pin was also introduced through the centre of the bone.
Post-operative radiographs revealed good reduction and alignment of the fracture, therefore Dexter was woken from his anaesthetic and transferred to our nursing team for recovery.
Dexter remained with us for a further week after surgery, he was a very bright and happy puppy and enjoyed using his Kong in his kennel. He loved resting his head on our nurses laps, as can be seen in the gallery below. He was discharged home to his owners 6 days post-surgery on strict rest. We are pleased to report at his re-check appointments he is doing really well.
