Need Some Help from the Vets

[Monte09]

My boy, 3.5 yr old lab, had a injury to his hock area two weeks ago while training and the vet took x-rays, see the attached url. You can see the soft tissue swelling around the fibular tarsal bone and a small splinter of that bone. They, two different doctors, diagnosed it differently but neither was sure. They proscribed rest and a follow up exam. Im now scheduled to go to another Dr. next week and a possible MRI depending on what he thinks. Im wondering if any of you might have a thought on what his problem is.

He puts weight on it and will walk fairly normal but frequently will "tweak" it and it causes him pain. At rest it doesnt seem to bother him. His condition has not changed since it first happened.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts you might have.

Steve Coombes


http://i951.photobucket.com/albums/a...oo9/file_2.jpg

[okvet]

Steve--there is obvious soft tissue inflammation around the calcaneus bone. Almost looks like you might have had a partial avulsion of the Achille's tendon from the calacaneus bone. Since the dog is walking pretty much normal then there is not a full avulsion. So my thoughts are some damage/injury to the Achille's tendon/calcaneus bone attachment. An MRI will diagnose the problem though. Rest and NSAIDS should do the trick. A cast to immobilize the joint to prevent an further damage while healing might not be a bad idea also. If you are going to a specialist though he/she will know the best plan of action.

good luck and keep me informed how it goes.
todd

[Monte09]

Thanks for your input Todd. I will let you know what comes of it. Your thoughts give me hope its not something to serious and we can avoid surgery.

Steve

[Monte09]

Just an update. Went to the orthopedic surgeon today and they ended up doing surgery. He tore two tendons, the gastrocnemius tendon (achilles tendon) and the superficial digital flexor tendon. Had it just been the gastorocnemius tendon, because it wasnt a sever tear, he wouldnt have had surgery but the superficial digital flexor was a sever tear that required surgery. Surgery went well. Only bad thing is Dr. feels there is a chance down the road that he will completely tear his gastrocnemius tendon despite what he did today to try to minimize the possibility.

Thanks for you comments okvet. The Dr. had the same diagnosis as you based on the x-ray alone. When he handled the dog he discovered the tear in the superficial digital flexor tendon. The MRI was not necessary.

Steve Coombes