Apollo’s mission to mend his leg fracture
Apollo, an 18 month old Maine Coon cat, arrived at our surgery unable to place weight on his left fore leg. He had been missing for four days.
Left fore distal radial fracture and dislocation
We took a radiograph of his leg, which revealed severe injury to the lower left fore. He was suffering from a very distal fracture of the radius as well as a dislocation of the radius from the proximal carpal joint.
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CA plate
The best way to ensure his leg healed correctly and he remained pain free into the future was to place a special plate across his carpal joint, from the radius to the metacarpals. This would allow the distal tibia to heal and prevent any long-term pain in the area.
Fracture exposed
In this photo, you can see the bones that we worked on during the surgery, with the distal radius still located under the carpal bones. We began by elevating the distal radius into its correct position. The carpal arthrodesis plate was the applied, using 1.5mm and 2mm screws to fix it in place.
After application of the CA plate
After closure
The two photos above show the plate after application and after the surgery site was closed, before we bandaged Apollo’s leg. The photos below show x-rays of his leg after the surgery, showing the ulna and radius in correct alignment (from two angles). This surgery only cost Apollo’s owners $1,250. If he was referred to a specialist centre, the same surgery would have cost upwards of $4,000. We perform a wide range of orthopaedic surgeries – if you would like an estimate, please don’t hesitate to call our team today.
Post op Xray
Post op Xray