| San Carlos Veterinary Hospital |
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Case of the Month: April 1999 |
| Gerrard |

Gerrard Freed, born February 1998, is a neutered male Chow/Basset mix. He was presented for multiple orthopedic problems. He has a "radius curvus"… where the ulna, the second bone in the forearm, stopped growing while the radius, the other bone, continued to grow. This caused displacement of the bony articulation in the elbow, outward rotation of the paw, and exaggerated outward bowing of the paw. He also has a right ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the knee, and bilateral hip dysplasia.
On March 14, 1999, THREE surgeries were performed. A tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO) and meniscal release were performed to correct the knee instability. A right triple pelvic osteotomy was performed to improve the hip joint congruity and stability to minimize progression of arthritis. Finally, a proximal ulnar ostectomy was performed. A 3 mm slice of bone was removed from the upper ulna to release the "bowstring" that was limiting growth. The postoperative radiographs showed that the ulnar ostectomy sited was 8 mm wide, indicating that there was tremendous tension pulling apart the elbow joint articulation.
On March 29, 1999, follow-up radiographs showed that the ulnar ostectomy site was now 11 mm wide, the elbow joint articulation was back to normal, with normal congruity. The right hip joint looked excellent, very congruent. The right knee joint looked good, was healing normally. Gerrard was walking very well on his right rear leg, but still was limping on his right foreleg.
The future plans are to do a triple pelvic osteotomy on the left hip joint and evaluate whether a corrective osteotomy will be required in the right "wrist" joint to correct the outward bowing and rotation of the paw.