Page 7 - Clinical Connections - Spring 2022

Service Spotlight
ORTHOPAEDICS SERVICE GOES FROM
STRENGTH TO STRENGTH

he Orthopaedic Service at the Queen when metal implants are scanned. Luckily his pelvis has been successfully
Mother Hospital for Animals is one of reconstructed and he still has a few of his
T the largest teams in Europe, with six nine lives left!
surgeons (four European Diploma holders), Thursday: We had one of the dogs
including Head of Service Professor coming to see us for Stem Cell Therapy.
Richard Meeson, Senior Orthopaedic Bart has severe elbow osteoarthritis and
Surgeon Dr Matthew Pead, and surgeons is no longer responding well to medication.
Drs Anna Frykfors, Rhiannon Strickland, He has had five million of his own stem
Carlos Sanchez and newly joined surgeon cells cultured from his fat on our onsite
Dr Rebekah Knight. They work with three VMD regulated laboratory, and after
Specialist Orthopaedic Service RVNs, walking on our pressure mat to get an
Kate Fitton, Abagail Blake and Emily Few. objective assessment of his lameness,
Additionally, there are six surgical residents he had them injected into his elbow joint
working with the Orthopaedic Team, and Eric's CT scans for management of his osteoarthritis. We
PhD student Gareth Jones MRCVS, who continue to monitor his and other dogs’
is analysing bone structure of dogs with Tuesday: A Total Hip Replacement for progress with the pressure mat and validated
osteoarthritis, to identify early imaging Darcy, the nearly two-years-old Bernese quality of life questionnaires, to improve our
markers of disease using cutting-edge mountain dog who had been suffering understanding of this novel therapy.
imaging techniques. with hip dysplasia for some time despite
intensive hydrotherapy and medication.
Before surgery she was in such pain that
she wouldn’t put her foot down properly and
would stand with her hock over-extended.
Post-surgery, she was weight-bearing
normally and no longer in pain.

Members of the Orthopaedic Service
Bernese mountain dog Darcy
In any week, the Orthopaedic Service
has two clinical teams working, usually Wednesday: Many of the cats we see
consisting of a specialist senior surgeon, a come through Emergency and Critical Care Bart on the pressure mat
surgical resident and an orthopaedic nurse, after road traffic accidents and 10-year-
with a rotating intern supporting both teams. old domestic short-hair cat Alfie was no Friday: The team dealt with an unusual
Between the more routine cruciate, patella exception. He had fractured his hip joint case of an orbital fracture. These can usually
and elbow surgeries, these were some of (acetabular fracture), and both his ilial be managed conservatively but, in this
the highlights last week: wings, not to mention damage to his bladder. instance, it was compressing his eye and
Monday: Little Eric, a five-year-old had to be repaired. Careful planning and
whippet, was having a lovely time in the surgery allowed reconstruction of Roland’s
woods until a suspected altercation with a face with a 1.5mm miniature locking plate.
wild boar left him unable to walk. Initially, it was
presumed he had a shoulder joint luxation,
however, this turned out to be a comminuted
fracture of the shoulder joint glenoid
surface. After dealing with a life-threatening
pneumothorax, CT scans allowed accurate
assessment of his comminuted shoulder Roland, who came in with an orbital fracture
joint. The only option to save his joint was
to accurately reconstruct and repair it. His And rest….until next week…
surgery was complicated, but the state-of-
the-art 320-slice CT scanner was able to For small animal referrals, please call:
confirm accurate repair of the joint surface 01707 666399
and remove the artefacts typically seen Alfie's reconstructed pelvis Email:
qmhreception@rvc.ac.uk

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