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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
My cat broke a rear ankle five years ago prior to my adopting him. A
veterinary orthopedic surgeon repaired it with screws and a plate. The vet said to stay on the lookout for protruding screws over the years. Recently a screw came through the skin. There is no bleeding or anything. It looks perfectly clean. The cat does not seem sensitive to the touch at the screw area (but who knows). There are no signs of infection. He gets around fine, has a good appetite and seems fine. Before we report back to the orthopedic surgeon for his opinion, has anyone else had the screw from an orthopedic repair on his or her cat protrude through? What was the outcome? |
#2
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
Elle wrote:
My cat broke a rear ankle five years ago prior to my adopting him. A veterinary orthopedic surgeon repaired it with screws and a plate. The vet said to stay on the lookout for protruding screws over the years. Recently a screw came through the skin. There is no bleeding or anything. It looks perfectly clean. The cat does not seem sensitive to the touch at the screw area (but who knows). There are no signs of infection. He gets around fine, has a good appetite and seems fine. Before we report back to the orthopedic surgeon for his opinion, has anyone else had the screw from an orthopedic repair on his or her cat protrude through? What was the outcome? Not my cat, but I had a screw from a repaired broken hip go through the bone and touch the bone on the other side -- unbelievably painful!!! |
#3
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
On Thu, 3 Mar 2011 19:32:21 -0800 (PST), Elle
wrote: My cat broke a rear ankle five years ago prior to my adopting him. A veterinary orthopedic surgeon repaired it with screws and a plate. The vet said to stay on the lookout for protruding screws over the years. Recently a screw came through the skin. There is no bleeding or anything. It looks perfectly clean. The cat does not seem sensitive to the touch at the screw area (but who knows). There are no signs of infection. He gets around fine, has a good appetite and seems fine. Before we report back to the orthopedic surgeon for his opinion, has anyone else had the screw from an orthopedic repair on his or her cat protrude through? What was the outcome? If your cat has no sign of infection, and seems to be walking and running without any limping, etc., I'd leave well enough alone. A veterinary orthopedic surgeon is EXPENSIVE, and sure as hell, he'll want to do X-rays, etc. You know the old saying: if it's ain't broke, don't fix it. The other old saying is: if you go to see a surgeon, odds are, he'll tell you you need surgery...because that's how he makes money. You could easily spend several hundred dollars, to have this expensive vet tell you your cat seems to have healed fine. Or, he could tell you your cat needs more surgery. Expensive surgery. The bad economy has hit specialty vets, just like everyone else. Leave well enough alone, for now, but examine the area carefully for signs of infection, tenderness, or anything else out of the ordinary, regularly, from now on, just in case. This costs nothing. |
#4
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
On Mar 3, 9:32*pm, Elle wrote:
My cat broke a rear ankle five years ago prior to my adopting him. A veterinary orthopedic surgeon repaired it with screws and a plate. The vet said to stay on the lookout for protruding screws over the years. Recently a screw came through the skin. There is no bleeding or anything. It looks perfectly clean. The cat does not seem sensitive to the touch at the screw area (but who knows). There are no signs of infection. He gets around fine, has a good appetite and seems fine. Before we report back to the orthopedic surgeon for his opinion, has anyone else had the screw from an orthopedic repair on his or her cat protrude through? What was the outcome? Ignore the idiot that is more concerned about cost than the cat. This is not something I would take a wait and see approach about. With repairs like this every part of the reconstruction is cruscial, and although the cat may seem fine, the fact is that without the screw it is very possible that the repair could destabilize and it will turn into a problem. You can liken this to some of the bridge collapses that have happened over the years. For example, the I-35 collapse was likely a result of a design flaw in the gusset plates (sized a half an inch too thin in the original design) joining the steel beams. Seemingly small in the grand scheme of things, but that flaw cost many lives and broguht down a huge mass of concrete and steel. Sometimes something as small as one screw, and the failure of that screw, can change the enitre landscape of the repair and cause it to fail, and it doesn't necessarily happen overnight. |
#5
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts, MLB,
gandalf, and catlady. My cat has 13 tiny screws holding a veterinary cuttable plate (VCP) in place and fixing his ankle. As I wrote, only one screw is coming through. So I am hopeful he truly is not in pain. Also it seems that fusing of the bone is the desired outcome, and this surely has happened by now. So I hope bone is not moving across bone in any kind of painful way, as I agree with MLB is surely possible in some cases. I found the net even has some papers on this. See for example http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1780233/. I do see he has less flesh and muscle in the area of where the plate etc. is compared to the normal rear ankle on the other side. I imagine this is usual. He cannot flex the repaired ankle the way he can the normal one, so I can see how muscle in the repaired ankle would shape differently. (He is still a roughhouser with his sister at times. This repaired broken ankle hardly has slowed him down.) Hopefully it is okay for a screw or two to be removed over time, in a natural healing process. Beloved pud has an appointment with the orthopod on Wednesday. The receptionist got off the phone with me for a few minutes to go talk to the staff about whether this was an emergency. The orthopod's staff said since the cat was eating and drinking and otherwise seemed normal, this was not an emergency but do get the protruding screw checked. Now I remember that the vet even talked about how the bone would fuse over time, per plan. So hopefully this visit to the orthopod will be just a quick once-over. I will post an update. Thanks again all. |
#6
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
Bacteria are drawn to metal. get him to vet asap, hopefully he will not
catch MRSA, animals get it to .can be very EXPENSEIVE to treat . Michael Lane The men American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try and tell them the truth -- H. L. Mencken ** ** |
#7
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
"ingold1234 (at) yahoo (dot) com (gandalf)" wrote in message ... On Thu, 3 Mar 2011 19:32:21 -0800 (PST), Elle wrote: My cat broke a rear ankle five years ago prior to my adopting him. A veterinary orthopedic surgeon repaired it with screws and a plate. The vet said to stay on the lookout for protruding screws over the years. Recently a screw came through the skin. There is no bleeding or anything. It looks perfectly clean. The cat does not seem sensitive to the touch at the screw area (but who knows). There are no signs of infection. He gets around fine, has a good appetite and seems fine. Before we report back to the orthopedic surgeon for his opinion, has anyone else had the screw from an orthopedic repair on his or her cat protrude through? What was the outcome? If your cat has no sign of infection, and seems to be walking and running without any limping, etc., I'd leave well enough alone. A veterinary orthopedic surgeon is EXPENSIVE, and sure as hell, he'll want to do X-rays, etc. You know the old saying: if it's ain't broke, don't fix it. The other old saying is: if you go to see a surgeon, odds are, he'll tell you you need surgery...because that's how he makes money. You could easily spend several hundred dollars, to have this expensive vet tell you your cat seems to have healed fine. Or, he could tell you your cat needs more surgery. Expensive surgery. The bad economy has hit specialty vets, just like everyone else. Leave well enough alone, for now, but examine the area carefully for signs of infection, tenderness, or anything else out of the ordinary, regularly, from now on, just in case. This costs nothing. Please, NO!!! When the original surgery was done, the OP was told "to stay on the lookout for protruding screws over the years." There was a reason for that warning. The cat should be seen ASAP--*before* infection sets in or further damage is done. MaryL |
#8
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Five Years After Broken Ankle Repair
"Elle" wrote in message ... Thank you so much for sharing your experience and thoughts, MLB, gandalf, and catlady. My cat has 13 tiny screws holding a veterinary cuttable plate (VCP) in place and fixing his ankle. As I wrote, only one screw is coming through. So I am hopeful he truly is not in pain. Also it seems that fusing of the bone is the desired outcome, and this surely has happened by now. So I hope bone is not moving across bone in any kind of painful way, as I agree with MLB is surely possible in some cases. I found the net even has some papers on this. See for example http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1780233/. I do see he has less flesh and muscle in the area of where the plate etc. is compared to the normal rear ankle on the other side. I imagine this is usual. He cannot flex the repaired ankle the way he can the normal one, so I can see how muscle in the repaired ankle would shape differently. (He is still a roughhouser with his sister at times. This repaired broken ankle hardly has slowed him down.) Hopefully it is okay for a screw or two to be removed over time, in a natural healing process. Beloved pud has an appointment with the orthopod on Wednesday. The receptionist got off the phone with me for a few minutes to go talk to the staff about whether this was an emergency. The orthopod's staff said since the cat was eating and drinking and otherwise seemed normal, this was not an emergency but do get the protruding screw checked. Now I remember that the vet even talked about how the bone would fuse over time, per plan. So hopefully this visit to the orthopod will be just a quick once-over. I will post an update. Thanks again all. Thank you! I had posted a message before I saw this follow-up. I am so glad you are making plans to take your cat for evaluation. MaryL |
#9
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Six (not Five) Years After Broken Ankle Repair
Beloved pud is back from the ortho vet's, snoozing in the sun. He is
well. Main points: -- An x-ray was done immediately. The ankle bone has fused nicely. Bone healing looks great (after six years, not five, pardon). -- No signs of infection. -- The vet said the screw could stay or be removed; it was my choice. He did not list any particular pros or cons. I naively did not realize pud had to be put under for this, so it was kind of a big deal. (Big doh on me again, remembering the screw goes into the bone and must now hurt just having been removed.) I did decide to have it removed, on the premise it bothered the cat in general and could lead to worse things. But I really have no idea. Pud got one stitch to pull the skin over where the screw was. No meds were prescribed. This is a reputable vet hospital and I trust their post-op instructions, which were nothing this time. -- The x-ray showed that the plate, now held in place by 12 screws, actually broke at its vertex. The vet said this is very common. The cat's ankle is at a fixed angle now, the same as the angle of the original plate. The vet said removing the plate is done often. After surgical removal, the cat would be in a splint for 4-8 weeks and have to be confined so he does not pull that superman flying from the table top stuff. The screw holes would fill with bone over time. If the plate is not removed, the question is whether the plate will start moving around and causing the cat pain. The surgery for removal is not too expensive ($400 to $850, depending on how things look when the surgeon actually gets in there). I asked the vet if it were his cat what he would do. He hesitated. I am sure he gets this question a lot. He was pretty clear it did not have to be done, at least not without other signs. Earlier he asked the cat's age, and I think he was factoring this in, too. If I had all the money in the world, yet there continued to be no signs of malaise, pain or infection, I think it might be cruel to put the cat (about eight-years-old) through another surgery and that gosh awful convalescence. At any rate, no decision has to be made immediately. I will monitor the ankle and ponder it. Pud with his sister got a special treat of shrimp when we got home. Thank you all for your input. Sometimes just not being alone in these decisions helps. I got all teary-eyed just watching the many dog and cat patients passing through the doors, along with a few human visitors with special treats who had come to see their loved ones as they convalesced there, which the staff encourages. It remains the same fine hospital I know from six years ago. |
#10
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Six (not Five) Years After Broken Ankle Repair
Elle wrote:
Beloved pud is back from the ortho vet's, snoozing in the sun. He is well. Main points: -- An x-ray was done immediately. The ankle bone has fused nicely. Bone healing looks great (after six years, not five, pardon). -- No signs of infection. -- The vet said the screw could stay or be removed; it was my choice. He did not list any particular pros or cons. I naively did not realize pud had to be put under for this, so it was kind of a big deal. (Big doh on me again, remembering the screw goes into the bone and must now hurt just having been removed.) I did decide to have it removed, on the premise it bothered the cat in general and could lead to worse things. But I really have no idea. Pud got one stitch to pull the skin over where the screw was. No meds were prescribed. This is a reputable vet hospital and I trust their post-op instructions, which were nothing this time. -- The x-ray showed that the plate, now held in place by 12 screws, actually broke at its vertex. The vet said this is very common. The cat's ankle is at a fixed angle now, the same as the angle of the original plate. The vet said removing the plate is done often. After surgical removal, the cat would be in a splint for 4-8 weeks and have to be confined so he does not pull that superman flying from the table top stuff. The screw holes would fill with bone over time. If the plate is not removed, the question is whether the plate will start moving around and causing the cat pain. The surgery for removal is not too expensive ($400 to $850, depending on how things look when the surgeon actually gets in there). I asked the vet if it were his cat what he would do. He hesitated. I am sure he gets this question a lot. He was pretty clear it did not have to be done, at least not without other signs. Earlier he asked the cat's age, and I think he was factoring this in, too. If I had all the money in the world, yet there continued to be no signs of malaise, pain or infection, I think it might be cruel to put the cat (about eight-years-old) through another surgery and that gosh awful convalescence. At any rate, no decision has to be made immediately. I will monitor the ankle and ponder it. Pud with his sister got a special treat of shrimp when we got home. Thank you all for your input. Sometimes just not being alone in these decisions helps. I got all teary-eyed just watching the many dog and cat patients passing through the doors, along with a few human visitors with special treats who had come to see their loved ones as they convalesced there, which the staff encourages. It remains the same fine hospital I know from six years ago. Sending heartfelt purrs that the kitty will do just fine without further surgery. The cat will usually slow down as it ages (hopefully) and may not try flying leaps. Best wishes. MLB |
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