Case of the Month: Zoey

Case of the Month: Zoey

zoey the goldendoodleVet who performed surgery

Meet Zoey! Zoey is a 7 month old female spayed goldendoodle. She presented to us the day after Halloween for limping on her back right leg. (She was 4 month old at that time). Halloween night, she was so excited with all the Trick-or-Treaters coming to the house that she jumped over the baby gate. Her parents heard her yelp in pain, and she stopped putting weight on her right back limb immediately after that.


When she came to us the next day, her doctor noticed swelling of her right stifle (knee joint), and she was painful when flexing and extending the joint. X-rays of the stifle were taken showing a tibial tuberosity avulsion fracture. Young puppies have growth plates at the end of their long bones allowing growth in the bones. As puppies get older and their growth starts plateauing, the growth plates starts closing and fusing to the rest of the bone. When the growth plates are open, or not fully fused to the bone, they are more vulnerable to breaking off from the rest of the bone when there is any sort of trauma. This is what happened to Zoey in her tibia, or shin bone. When she jumped over the baby gate, her tibial tuberosity was torn from its normal position. The tibial tuberosity is the point where the quadriceps muscle group (thigh muscles) and the patella (knee cap) attach to the tibia through the patellar ligament. When that tuberosity breaks off from the rest of the tibia, the quadriceps muscle contracts and pulls the fragment away from the bone causing an avulsion. This is very painful and causes a lot of swelling and inflammation.


Surgery is the best option when a tibial tuberosity avulsion fracture occurs in order to put the fragment back in its anatomical position and regain proper function of the knee. Zoey's parents were offered a referral to an orthropedic surgeon or have the surgery performed here with us, and they decided to keep her in our care. Surgery was performed here about a week later.


The goal of surgery is to put the bone fragment back in its usual anatomical position. Zoey was anesthestized, given an epidural to help reduce surgical pain, and steriley prepped for surgery. An incision was made in her skin to expose her tibia and manually put the fragment back in place. 2 metal pins were placed through the tuberosity fragment to attach it to the rest of the tibia. Metal wire was looped around the pins to anchor everything in place. After her skin was sutured back together, post-operative xrays were taken to confirm correct alignment of the bone.


Zoey was sent home with pain medications and discharge instructions to keep her as calm and quiet as possible (the worst part of this procedure for a young puppy!) with a few light physical therapy exercises. Her parents did an awesome job of following instructions and allowing her a full recovery. Unfortunately, 1 month later she presented for limping in her other leg! X-rays confirmed a tibial tuberosity avulsion fracture in her left tibia! What rotten luck! Her parents authorized for us to perform surgery in her left leg. Luckily, she is fully recovered on both legs and doing so much better with no limping! She is finally back to being a bouncy, energetic puppy!

If you have any questions or concerns about your pet, give Carol Stream Animal Hospital a call at (630) 462-7888. We would love an opportunity to help you and your pet!

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