Jackson is a very cute and active 1 and 1/2 year old Pomeranian. He came to Southpointe with a bandage on his left front leg. He had a broken leg and it had been splinted by another veterinarian. The two bones in his left front leg (radius and ulna) which had fractured were bandaged to allow healing. The bandage that had originally been placed 6 weeks prior to his visit to us had not been changed during that time. Normally leg bandages are changed every 5-7 days to allow for growth of the leg and to reapply bandages to prevent skin lesions from occurring.

Jackson Post-op
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Jackson's left front leg was radiographed (X-rayed) to see if healing had taken place. The X-rays revealed that the bones had twisted so that they were at a 90 degree angle of rotation to where they should be. This happened sometime during the 6 weeks that the bandage was on, and the bones were no longer forming a bony callus (a scab to help the bones heal closer together). It was now too late for the bones to heal without a bone graft.

The options for Jackson at this point would be a replacement of the bones back into the right position, bone graft and possibly a bone plate for healing (this would have to be done at a specialty center) or amputation of the leg. The owners elected to pursue amputation of Jackson's left front injured leg.

Jackson's operation
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Jackson did very well for his amputation. Dogs with an amputation typically do very well, especially when done at a young age. Jackson, after having been accustomed to having a cast on his left front leg for 6 weeks, was already adjusted to life on three legs right after he woke up from surgery. He was much more comfortable and did not have to carry around an unusable leg.

This case illustrates the importance of coming in for scheduled recheck appointments for medical issues such as a leg fracture. Whereas there is always a chance of a nonhealing bone with any fracture it is very possible that the outcome of this case might have been different if bandages were changed weekly.