I had a patient with such a classic case of a torn cruciate ligament that I just had to blog about it. A couple days ago this goofy Lab was running around when she came up lame. Her owners didn't see what happened and she didn't make a sound. All they knew was that she couldn't put weight on her right hind limb. They gave her some time to see if she would improve but when she didn't they brought her in for an exam.
So during her initial exam yesterday, she was her usual happy self until I tried to extend and flex her stifle (knee) joint. It was obvious she was painful, especially when she wouldn't put weight on it. We scheduled her for sedation and radiographs this morning.
The sedation allowed me to be able to check her for a positive cranial drawer sign. When you watch the video, just pretend I figured out how to get rid of the sound! We always check both knees to make sure we don't miss any problems.
Unfortunately, when a dog (and sometimes a cat) has an injury such as this, surgery is required. If left untreated, approximately 80% of patients will rupture the other knee.
No comments:
Post a Comment