If you stop to consider the number of biological events which are triggered the moment a bone breaks it is nothing short of magical. Clot formation, new blood supply, bridging callus, cell proliferation, cartilage transformation and finally new bone production and remodelling are all processes which are automatically set in motion once a bone has been broken.......but sometimes there is even more!

"Teddy" Chambers, a 4 month old Border Collie pup, was referred to me by another veterinary practice because he had broken his right thigh bone (femur) just above his knee cap. This is a particularly unpleasant and painful experience as the broken bone end is pushed right up against the knee cap (patella) causing considerable discomfort.

In order to facilitate the natural healing processes just described the bone fragments were realigned using stainless steel pins. "Teddy" then gets on with repairing the problem.

Unfortunately, due to the location of the break the growth plate (area of bone which produces bone length) invariably becomes damaged. This would presumably result in a shortened leg with the resultant problems.

Amazingly, when the thigh bone's growth is restricted the shin bone compensates by growing even longer than normal helping to keep both hind limbs the correct length. Now that is a clever design trick. Should the compensatory growth of the shin bone be insufficient then the angle of the knee alters to allow "Teddy" to function normally. So sometimes despite what the surgeon does the patient still looks good! Nevertheless I like to think my contribution helps Mother nature along the way!

Terry Dunne BVMS, Cert SAO, MRCVS

Back to "Interesting Cases"

If you wish to print or save this page it is available in PDF format here