Shoulder Surgery

[Guest gawain]

So Lazarus (Laz) after getting x-rays was diagnosed by his normal vet with having osteofites. Little pieces of bone floating around in his shoulder. We took him to see another vet who is supposed to be one of the best surgeons in southeast Mi for a consultation and to see if we can help him.

 

After reviewing the x-rays and examine Laz that there is more then likely a problem with the tendon that connects the bicep to the shoulder. He feels the best course of action is to use arthroscopic surgery to take a look. At that time they will also take a fluid sample to rule out infection. He wants to look at the shoulder, he can then fix the tendon if there is something wrong. If nothing is wrong he can clean up the joint and we can go from there.

 

I was wondering if anyone here as had experience with this type of operation, what the healing time was, and if they felt the procedure benefited their pup? Also any lessons learned from any similar experiences would be helpful.

[Greytlady94]

I don't want your post to get lost so I'll bump it up.

 

I'm sorry I don't know anything about the problem you are describing. There is a veterinarian who posts on Greytalk, I would e-mail him.

 

Dr. Feeman http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php?showuser=2742

[Burpdog]

Email the Ohio State consult address You can send the xrays and results to them for an opinion.

 

Consult: greyosu@osu.edu

[Guest gawain]

I feel comfortable with the diagnosis. I was just hoping for some lessons learned stuff. For example after our Grey had the surgery we found he more comfortable if we slightly straightened his leg out for 1 periods 7 times a day. (I just made that up), that sort of stuff. Things that people learned from the recovery end that vets might not hear about.

[romansperson]

There is a veterinary rehab place here that treats dogs after surgeries such as what you are describing. It's called Vethab: http://www.vethab.com/Home/index.php. The specialist you are seeing might be able to recommend such a place to you - if you don't want to pay them to do the physical therapy you can make a couple of appts. where they show you how to do it at home. It helps with healing and regaining normal motion afterwards. They would be able to help with questions about length of recuperation, etc., though of course a lot depends on what exactly happens during the surgery.

Edited June 22, 2007 by romansperson

[Guest selma]

I have a dog who has had a chronic limp for some time and the specialists' diagnosis is that it is probably a problem with the biceps tendon. He wants to do arthrocentesis and then inject Depomedrol into the area. He said that this injection combined with rest can fix up to %50 of the cases and we would try this before going on with surgery to the shoulder. We are now waiting for the radiologists confirmation to go ahead with this. I realize this is not helpful to you but I would really appreciate it if you could keep posting a "progress report" for the rest of us who might be going thru a similar procedure. Good luck!