Any Experience With Removal Of Bone Plate And Screws

[Guest Adrianne]

It looks like a possibility that Chevy will have to have the bone plate and screws removed from when he broke his hock while racing. The leg has been irritated for months now. When it first started, I thought he just scraped his leg running out in the yard. After about a month of healing and re-irritating, I wondered if he was hitting it on the metal frame of the dog door when would bust through at 90mph.

 

After padding that with no change, it dawned on me (yes, I'm slow sometimes) that maybe something was going on internally. What were the chances of him hitting the same leg in the same spot all the time? This realization came to me right before Chevy's attack. After Chevy's surgery, the vet was pointing out everything she had done and pointed to that leg. I mentioned to her that I thought that wasn't strictly from the attack, although some of it might have been. I told her once he was healed from all that, I would like to investigate what was going on with the leg.

 

It looked pretty good the last few weeks, but yesterday I saw swelling in the leg--it's a hard swelling, not squishy like with fluid buildup. There were a couple soft spots that I figured would be open today, and sure enough, they were. He's not limping, he doesn't lick the area during the day, but I'm sure he does at night. I have tried wrapping to keep him from licking, and the spots do heal up. Sometimes, there only one small spot--sometimes like today, there's several spots.

 

 

After a nice talk with Judy (JillysFullHouse) this evening, I feel fairly confident something is going on with the bone plate and/or screws. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow to schedule an xray. I'm just looking for any information from anyone who has gone through this, just in case a removal is recommended. I hate hate hate to put him through this so soon after one surgery.

 

Thanks so much for any advice or experience you can offer.

 

 

 

[Rickiesmom]

Back in 2004 my whippet had partial carpal fusion surgery and a plate was installed. He never stopped limping and continued to need a splint for months. The surgeon eventually decided maybe the tendons were being irritated by the plate and wanted to remove it, which I agreed to. During the surgery they found one of the plate screws was loose Took the plate out, and once recovery from that was over (pretty straightforward) Rickie regained full use of the leg. I ended up doing underwater treadmill rehab with him for awhile because he had lost a lot of muscle due to such a long period of inactivity. For him, removing the plate was the absolutely right thing to do.

[kikibean]

I know a couple of people that have had to have plates / screws taken out. None had any issues.

 

One was a girl we adopted out that we didn't even know had a plate and screws until one of the screws started coming through the skin.

[Guest Adrianne]

I know a couple of people that have had to have plates / screws taken out. None had any issues.

 

One was a girl we adopted out that we didn't even know had a plate and screws until one of the screws started coming through the skin.

That's interesting. I can't feel anything, but then again, I probably wouldn't know it if I did feel something.

[Guest OPointyDog]

Our girl Zoe had a pin and spring in her hock removed - apparently they weren't placed correctly in the original surgery, and even after 6 months she was still lame. Our vet took x-rays and then referred us to an orthopedic surgeon for removal. Turns out the pin was in too far and was sticking out and irritating her tendon! She made a full recovery, but like Rickie, she had rehab on the underwater treadmill to rebuild muscle mass. A year later, she doesn't limp at all.

[Guest Adrianne]

I would like to add that this surgery to repair the hock was years ago, at least four years ago and maybe more. What I'm seeing so far seems to be problems develop pretty shortly after surgery. Chevy's been with us about 2.5 years with this just showing in the last three months. Thoughts?

Edited April 11, 2013 by Adrianne

[philospher77]

Haven't gone through this, but when I did the knee surgery on Pixie, the surgeon warned me that sometimes the wires and screws that they use to secure the head of the tibia in the new location will irritate the surrounding tissue, and need to come out. He said it could happen years after the surgery, and generally was no big deal as long as the bone had healed up.

[Guest IrskasMom]

Poor,poor Chevy . First the Attack and now this. Please Adrianne give that Boy some Mega Hugs from me , please more then one.

[PattyE]

My boy had a plate put in and we took it out after six months. Our vet said it was best to remove it before the bone started growing over it. He said it had started growing over it at six months. The screws did bother him. I could see bruising after he ran once and that is when we decided it needed to come out. He had stitches after the surgery and I think it was about a two week recovery time.

 

Joey's foot looked much like Chevy's before Joey had the plate put in. He had an infection before he had his surgery. He broke his hock racing and it did not heal correctly. He had to have his bone fused together and the plate was put in.

 

I hope all goes well for Chevy.

Edited April 11, 2013 by PattyE

[greytpups]

No advice, just for Chevy. Poor guy's been through enough.

[MP_the4pack]

I'm watching this thread because Da Bwat had plates and screws put in last year. While she's not showing any signs of discomfort, there is always the possibility they may need to come out too.

[Guest Adrianne]

Vet appointment at 9:45 this morning.

 

Good thoughts for him please.

[HoundHeavenAZ]

Good thoughts heading out to you and sweet Chevy

[Guest Adrianne]

Sorry to take so long to get back to this. Here is a photo of the xray from this morning....

 

 

The vet thinks everything looks good. However, she said, without seeing an xray of the original repair, she couldn't say for sure that nothing has shifted. I remembered that I have a CD with xray images of the original repair. So I took that over and am waiting to hear back. The plan at the moment is to get the wounds completely healed, which will mean wrapping the leg at night. Once they're healed, we'll see if he still worries with the leg and go from there.

 

Chevy was a nervous wreck at the vet, and I actually had to go back to help with the xray. It took four of us to get him in the right position, which was just lying down. One tech held his head, the vet lifted his front legs, I lifted his butt, and another tech pulled his legs under him to get him to lie down. It really was the only way.

[carronstar]

Kisses for Chevy and hugs for you. I can imagine how hard this is. We had to do pins for virtually every bone in one iggy's paw once but there were no follow-on problems.

 

The only thing I would guess is that it looks like the heads of a couple of screws might coordinate with the open wounds. Ouch.

[TheFullHouse]

Poor guy, he's been through a lot. Hopefully nothing has shifted. Funny, when I looked at the picture last night I wondered if the screws were under the open spots. Looks like they are.

Edited April 11, 2013 by JillysFullHouse

[Guest TBSFlame]

Our Flame had a lot of hardware in his broken leg. After about 6 months we had it taken out as my research at the time showed it did cause a lot of problems if left in.

[Guest Adrianne]

Poor guy, he's been through a lot. Hopefully nothing has shifted. Funny, when I looked at the picture last night I wondered if the screws were under the open spots. Looks like they are.

 

You're right. The vet did say he has almost no tissue between his skin and the screws. After feeling again last night, I thought perhaps I was feeling at least one of the screws. I'm pretty sure I can feel the fourth one from the right.

Edited April 11, 2013 by Adrianne

[kudzu]

My mother had a badly broken ankle many years ago. Almost a decade later the screws started "surfacing". My mom is a, um, well padded woman. At first it was just an odd lump, then an annoying one & finally another one. Xrays showed the problem. When it became painful by virtue of skin pressure she finally went back to the ortho. He said those screws needed to come out & in that case the entire rig would need to go. Mom postponed some more but finally gave in when the screw was practically breaking the surface of her skin.

 

She had to stay off that leg for a few weeks but overall it was only a fraction as painful as the original injury/surgery & recovery was a breeze in comparison. She's never had another problem with that ankle that she's mentioned.

 

Scritches to Chevy. Hope no surgery is needed but if it is, I'd say do it.

[PattyE]

Did the vet say anything about removing it? It seems like it might be hard after all these years since it seems like the bone would be grown over the plate. I don't know anything, I am just going by my experience with Joey. I was relieved to have his removed because the screws were bothering him. We could see where he was bruised by them after he ran once.

 

Poor Chevy, I hope he starts feeling better soon.

[Guest Adrianne]

Did the vet say anything about removing it? It seems like it might be hard after all these years since it seems like the bone would be grown over the plate. I don't know anything, I am just going by my experience with Joey. I was relieved to have his removed because the screws were bothering him. We could see where he was bruised by them after he ran once.

 

Poor Chevy, I hope he starts feeling better soon.

 

If something obvious had shown up, like a screw coming out, yes, it would have to be removed. She did talk a little about bone grown over the plate. However, she wouldn't be the one to do the removal. He would go to an orthopedist, possibly at The University of Georgia.

[Guest Adrianne]

Sorry to take so long to get back to this. Here is a photo of the xray from this morning....

 

 

The vet thinks everything looks good. However, she said, without seeing an xray of the original repair, she couldn't say for sure that nothing has shifted. I remembered that I have a CD with xray images of the original repair. So I took that over and am waiting to hear back. The plan at the moment is to get the wounds completely healed, which will mean wrapping the leg at night. Once they're healed, we'll see if he still worries with the leg and go from there.

 

Chevy was a nervous wreck at the vet, and I actually had to go back to help with the xray. It took four of us to get him in the right position, which was just lying down. One tech held his head, the vet lifted his front legs, I lifted his butt, and another tech pulled his legs under him to get him to lie down. It really was the only way.

 

 

Well, crap. Based on the xrays from the original repair, there is definite bone loss around the screw fourth from the right. It's about double the size it was when it was repaired. The plate has shifted a hair away from the bone, and the vet has referred him to an orthopedist.

[TheFullHouse]

Darn it. Well at least you know why it's been bothering him.

[krissn333]

I have dealt with quite a few over the years who have had to have screws removed, and plates with screws removed too. In all of the cases I've seen, the pups were much more comfortable once the hardware was removed.

 

My friend's 9 year old just had his plate removed. He's been a little tender on it, but, he's getting more normal by the day. She "dances" with him to get him to use it more

[Cully]

:(