Mayo Veterinary Services

Mayo Veterinary Services also offers complete fracture management surgery for your dog or cat. If your pet has a fracture leg and needs surgery, I can come to your veterinary clinic, or we ca meet at one of the clinics I use and discuss surgical repair of your pet's broken bone.  Please contact me at me email address, or 425-218-1400.

 

Intramedullary pinning is the quickest and cheapest form of fracture repair available (after casting and splinting). IM pinning is safest when appropriately applied to a limited number of types of fractures. The best type of fracture for IM pinning is the oblique fracture in which the bone has only fractured into two pieces. IM pinning also works very well in younger dogs. Other limited types of fractures such as those through physeal growth plates also work very well with IM pinning or k-wire applications.  IM pins are inserted into the medullary cavity of the bone, and must be removed in 6-8 weeks.

 

 

 

Interlocking nails are a more complex version of IM pinning. With the interlocking nail, we place 3-4 screws or bolts through the bone and the pin and lock them together. This improves the repair method significantly when using a pin or nail as it can be applied to many more types of complex fractures. It also has the advantage of being less expensive than bone plating.

 

 

Bone plating is the "Caddilac" of bone fracture repair. When applied appropriately, bone plates can accomodate most types and locations of fractures. The plate is bent to fit the broken bone, then the plate is screwed to the fractured bone. Most plates are left in place if possible, some should be removed. Bone plating takes more skill to use, but is much more adaptable than other methods of fracture repair. Bone plating is also more expensive.

 

 

External fixation is the application of rods through the bone, that stick out the side of the leg. These pins are connected together outside of the body with connecting rods to stabilize the fracture. This method of repair is fairly inexpensive, and can be applied to many fractures, but also has the highest maintenance requirements after surgery. This method is also fairly inexpensive.