Fractured Femur

[nmontgomery48]

I had a shock like this in May when I lost my Lab...I know how much this hurts, and I'm so very sorry for you.

[duncan41]

It hurts no matter what the reason. I am so sorry for your loss.

[KF_in_Georgia]

Matt,

 

My 8-year-old Oreo broke her leg (front right, above the elbow) standing in the living room. Not running, not playing. I came home from grocery shopping, the dogs were fine. I went out to unload the car and Oreo started screaming. Went I ran back inside, she was standing on three legs, fourth leg swinging free.

 

I took her to the ER. (Horrifying ride. Every time her weight shifted on a curve or something, she screamed and I cried.) They x-rayed. We were braced for a diagnosis of osteo, but the bone showed no signs of it. She had a spiral fracture--a diagonal/vertical break that made implanting a pin necessary. I talked to the orthopedic surgeon the next morning, and we scheduled her surgery for later that day. He confirmed that he saw no sign of cancer on the x-rays.

 

About five o'clock, my phone rang. I figured it was the surgeon calling to tell me Oreo was out of surgery and I could pick her up the next day. Instead, the surgeon told me that they'd finished the surgery 45 minutes earlier, but they couldn't get her breathing under control--it was as if she couldn't get any oxygen, even though they had her on O₂. They called in a vet from the ER next door, who did CPR, but they were unable to get her breathing. They thought it was a clot in her lungs. (A surgeon standing by, an e-vet doing CPR, a dog already getting O₂ and on monitors and everything--and they still couldn't save her. I'd be inclined to absolve your e-vet from blame since even in an "ideal" situation, a blood clot isn't something that can be fought.)

 

We didn't do an autopsy, but I'm convinced the break was caused by osteo. Greyhounds don't break a leg for no reason--especially not spectacular breaks that go in weird directions. So--osteo that doesn't show on the x-rays? Absolutely possible and not unlikely. And a blood clot--with or without osteo? Not uncommon either. When there's a broken bone, the shifting ends of the bone may cause some internal bleeding. A clot from that location can break loose easily--whether it's a broken bone on a person or a dog.

 

I know how stunningly devastating this can be. Healthy dog to screaming dog in seconds. All the worries about osteo, only to be told by the vet that you've dodged that bullet, and your dog can have surgery and be made well. And the next thing you know, the vet is telling you your dog has died of nothing you could see or fight, and you didn't get a chance to say good-bye. (The e-vets didn't want me to see Oreo once they got her splinted for the night; they were afraid she'd try to get up. My last glimpse of her was of my lovely black girl swaddled shoulder-to-wrist in neon green vet wrap.) I cried for days.

 

You have my deepest sympathy in the loss of your boy.

Edited December 9, 2011 by KF_in_Georgia

[philospher77]

First, let me say that I am sorry for your loss.

 

My Trinkett broke the neck of her femur, and, as with your dog, the X-ray wasn't the "typical" one for osteosarcoma. But when they did the surgery, and sent the tissue out for review, that's what it was. So yes, your dog could very well have had it. Also, when a long bone breaks, especially down the length of it that way, there is always the possibility of fat embolisms, because they are full of fatty marrow. And if a glob of fat is carried along into the lungs, it generally causes death, and can't be dealt with as easily as blood clots, which you can attempt to treat with drugs. So, I would say that the description seems plausible, although that doesn't make it any easier.

[tornadosgirl]

I am so so sorry.

[GreyPoopon]

I'm so sorry about the loss of your boy.

 

One of my girls broke her femur under similar conditions--in the house, not doing much. There wasn't any sign of OS. The femur was pieced back together. She went through 7 months of 'recovery' before the OS finally showed up on the x-rays, by which time the only thing holding her leg together was the plate used to repair the break. OS can be horribly sneaky.

[robinw]

I am so very, very sorry for your loss. What an awful shock

[lovinggreysslp]

This is exactly what happened to Larry. Fine one moment, broken femur the next. First Xray a our vet did not show any signs of osteo, second set of xrays at university vet showed osteo. We could not pin an already diseased bone, he could not support himself on the one good back leg so we had to let him go. I am sorry for your sudden loss.

[Guest mattbta]

All of your stories and comments ease the pain.

 

I wasn't attempting to blame the e-vet for his death as I was not there and they are vastly more experienced. Things happen...and that's where my overactive brain has a hard time. I always search for root cause in all outcomes.

 

Thinking about it all day and all night, it had to be osteo. The fracture with seemingly little trauma and the sheer size of both the bone and the fracture point to nothing else. Fatty embolism or blood clot as the final cause of death.

 

I am glad that it was quick and he didn't suffer for long.

 

Thank you again for the kindness you all have displayed.

[Batmom]

A brain always wants reasons and sometimes there are just no good ones. Lots of hugs to you.

[Guest KennelMom]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your boy. The most common cause of sudden death after a fracture is throwing a clot. As others have mentioned, it happens in people as well as dogs. Regarding the underlying cause of the fracture, IMO a major fracture with minimal trauma in an older dog is cancer until proven otherwise. And of course, in a greyhound, the most common cancer would be osteosarcoma. There have been a number of other cases where osteo presented as an acute fracture with no previous problems and not even any obvious signs of cancer on the initial x-rays. Btw, it's not strange at all for an e-vet clinic to take dogs out to potty in the middle of the night.

 

 

This.

 

I'm sorry for your loss We had a pup once that was taken to the e-vet for coughing and difficultly breathing and he was dead within hours, despite supportive care. Terribly shocking, but it does happen. We actually requested a post-mortem and it was inconclusive, but did rule out a few things.

[TwiggysMom]

I am so sorry for your shocking and heartbreaking loss.

[Guest betheab199]

I am so sad and sorry for your sudden loss.

[FiveRoooooers]

I just wanted to tell you how very sorry I am for your loss.

 

 

[kikibean]

I'm so sorry you lost your boy.

 

I also think it was probably Osteo. In the last couple of years I've, unfortunately, known more than one dog who's broken a leg doing absolutely nothing.

 

The first was a foster that we rushed to the vet. First x-ray showed a horrible break clean through but no signs of Osteo. We ran the x-ray over to a radiologist at the

specialty vet and they were able to see the beginnings of Osteo.

 

Second time was a friend's dog who, again, broke a leg doing nothing but standing up. Took her to the vet and first x-ray showed no Osteo. They rushed her to the

specialist to do surgery and when they opened her up the vet could tell there was Osteo.

 

My vet, who was the one who treated the foster dog, said legs just do not break like that over nothing.

[galgrey]

What a horrible shock! I'm so sorry for your loss.