What to Do If a Dog Breaks a Bone? A Detailed Look at Common Surgical Diseases in Dogs

[Causes]

Various direct or indirect forces can cause fractures. For example, falls, twisting or spraining during running or jumping, crushing by heavy objects, muscle traction, and sudden intense contraction can all cause fractures. In addition, in puppies suffering from rickets, osteomalacia and other diseases, fractures of the long bones of the limbs often occur even when the external force is not great.

[Key Points of Diagnosis]

The characteristic symptoms of fracture are: deformation, displacement of the two fracture ends (such as angular displacement, longitudinal axis displacement, lateral displacement, rotational displacement, etc.), and the affected limb showing abnormal postures such as shortening, bending, or lengthening. Next is abnormal movement: when the affected limb is made to bear weight or is moved passively, abnormal movements such as flexion and rotation appear (however, in fractures of the ribs and vertebrae, abnormal movement is not obvious). Bone crepitus can be heard at the broken ends of the bone. In addition, symptoms such as bleeding, swelling, pain and dysfunction may also be seen. In open fractures, there are often major soft tissue injuries, bleeding and bone fragments; at this time, the sick dog shows obvious systemic symptoms, refuses food, is restless with pain, and sometimes has an elevated body temperature. A diagnosis can be confirmed based on the history of trauma and local symptoms, and X-ray examination or radiography should be performed when necessary.

[Treatment]

1. Emergency rescue: This should be carried out at the site where the disease occurs, to prevent displacement of the fracture ends or serious complications when the sick dog is moved. Emergency rescue includes: first, hemostasis, using bandages, cloth strips, ropes, etc. above the wound to tie off and stop bleeding, applying iodine tincture to the affected area, and sprinkling iodoform or sulfonamide powder into the wound; second, after temporary bandaging and fixation of the fracture, immediately send the dog to a veterinary clinic for treatment.

2. Reduction: Place the dog in lateral recumbency for restraint, and perform reduction under local anesthesia. When there is displacement at the fracture site of a limb, an assistant can apply traction along the limb axis toward the distal end to straighten the displaced fracture site so that the two broken ends can be properly reduced. At this time, attention should be paid to whether the limb axis is normal and whether the two limbs are of equal length.

3. Fixation: Perform general cleaning treatment on the affected area for non-open fractures. For open fractures, after general treatment, sprinkle iodoform sulfonamide powder on the wound surface, then apply a plaster bandage or small splint for fixation. During fixation, cotton or cotton pads should be used as padding to prevent friction. After fixation, exercise should be minimized as much as possible. After 3-4 weeks, appropriate exercise may be given, and generally after 40-60 days the bandage and splint can be removed.

4. Systemic therapy: Oral bone-healing medicines (such as Yunnan Baiyao, etc.) can be given, along with animal growth promoters, calcium tablets and cod liver oil, etc. For dogs with open fractures, antibiotics and tetanus antitoxin can be used to prevent infection.