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 sortofageekNot TroublePremium,Mod
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Re: [Pets] Countdown time... AND SURGERY PICTURES! Jo ... sometime ... when you're not so busy, I need a little help understanding Tig's surgery process. Please help a surgery-challenged team mate.
This is what I understood.
1. Doc made incision, to open up access to Tigger's broken femur.
2. Doc poked around inside Tigger's leg.
3. Doc brought out hammer and chisel.
4. Assistant turned Tig's leg to the correct angle.
5. Doc used chisel to break off the broken femur head and neck from the good part of the femur.
6. Doc properly positioned the hip joint (at this point the femur was disconnected).
7. With the "plier-thingies," Doc removed the broken head of the femur from the hip joint.
8. Doc sewed Tigger up!
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 Santa FeI use Xfce, don't you wish Everyone did?Premium,ExMod 2002-7
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kudos:2 | Can't help you there, I passed out after reading step 1! 
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sortofageekNot TroublePremium,Mod
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There & Then
kudos:14 | I took the pictures out, TRAIN! I knew you were squeamish!  Actually, I would probably still be that way if I hadn't raised four children. | |
 jopfefKeeper of the BeaglesPremium,MVM
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| reply to sortofageek
said by sortofageek:Jo ... sometime ... when you're not so busy, I need a little help understanding Tig's surgery process. Please help a surgery-challenged team mate.
........
There is something missing for me between #6, where the femur was disconnected and #8, where the Vet did the sutures. The picture left in my mind is that he sewed Tigger up with a disconnected femur. I'm pretty certain that wasn't the case, but I keep reading it the same way.
Okay, let me explain. The fancy name for this surgery is a Femoral Head Ostectomy -- and you are right that Dr. Zeis left Tigger with a disconnected femur. And there is a really good reason for doing Tig's surgery that way. 
Nature abhors a vacuum. In Tigger's case, as in the case of many small animals who have this type of surgery, removal of the offending parts allows Mother Nature to begin the process of creating what is known as an artificial joint. There is now a fair-sized gap, relatively speaking, between the femur and the hip joint. Once this area heals from the initial surgery, it will begin to fill in with a strong fibrous type of tissue known as granulation tissue. It's a tough, strong tissue; over time, it will fill in that area and replace that femur and joint that was removed by Dr. Zeis; instead of Tigger being "bone on bone" and having pain, he will have a joint made of fibrous tissue that will be pain-free. Part of the purpose of doing physical therapy for Tigger is to help direct the development of the granulation tissue, so that it develops correctly and fills in around both the femur and the hip joint. He also needs to re-develop the muscles needed to carry himself on that leg again; he has pretty severe atrophy right now. The good part is that it made the surgery go much easier, but the bad part is that it will take longer for Tig to get strong again. It takes a minimum of three months for the artificial joint to develop, and that's why Tigger has to stay really quiet for the first month after surgery. Need the femur to stay in place, so that the basic granulation tissue can form its initial connection with the hip, and then grow the artificial joint from there. Obviously, it's not going to be as strong as the original joint would have been, but it'll get Tigger back on all fours again. Of course, unlike his fat brother, Pooh, Tigger will always have to be kept at a proper weight to prevent any problems with his right-hind leg. (Pooh, by the way, is really looking good these days!)
Years ago, one of my Aunt's cats was walking around in the rafters of the barn. In one of his more insane moments, he decided to jump down into the stall with the stud colt, who promptly kicked him into the next county. That little cat had the same surgery the next morning, spent several months confined to the laundry room in the house, recovered beautifully, and was back in the rafters about six months later. However, he never did jump down into a stall again!  
So, hopefully this will clarify things for you!
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sortofageekNot TroublePremium,Mod
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kudos:14 | That's just amazing. | |
jopfefKeeper of the BeaglesPremium,MVM
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1 edit | Yep, it sure is.
That surgery has been done on small horses, ponies, large dogs, and with fairly good results for all of the above. Of course, the horses and ponies could never be ridden again, but if you wanted to keep said critter for a pet, it was a very viable option for getting rid of the pain.
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"I can't save them all, but I sure as hell CAN help move them to safety." - Jo
"...If the beasts were gone, we would die from a great loneliness of spirit." - Chief Seattle | |
sortofageekNot TroublePremium,Mod
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| This is actually the most amazing part to me:
Once this area heals from the initial surgery, it will begin to fill in with a strong fibrous type of tissue known as granulation tissue.
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