Pinned leg - pin come loose. Any experiences?

pulliptears

Mum has a little terror of a Shih Tzu named Leo. He's coming up for 12.
When he was about 18 months he jumped from the sofa, landed awkwardly and tore his cruciate ligament. He had an operation and the joint was pinned. Over the last few years he's limped a bit but the vet always said it was arthritis in the joint and never really investigated just prescribed metacam.

After my experience with Jack and the wonderful vets I use I persuaded Mum to change over and we visited with Leo last week for his yearly booster. The vet noticed a small abscess on his bad leg which Mum had spotted herself that morning. It was unusual because he hadn't been bitten or to our knowledge caught his leg. She prescribed some strong antibiotics and we went back this morning.

Poor Mum is in a bit of a tizz now and quite upset. She's 76 and Leo is her only companion since Dad died 3 years ago. The vet said the wound wasn't healing and she wondered if the pin from ten years ago had worked loose and was causing the problems. The admitted him immediately, ascertained it was the pin through xray and he's currently in surgery having it taken out.

She's worrying slightly, despite my assurances, that he's going to suffer when he comes round. I've tried to reassure her that its only a small incision to remove the pin and it won't need replacing. She's also a little annoyed that the old vet has never xrayed the leg since the operation to check that the pin was still in place.

Does anyone have experience of this? I'm not sure if vets do xray pinned joints from time to time? Are pins working loose a common thing?

I'm just trying to reassure her a little that Leo will be just fine in a week or two but she's very worried.

Paradigm

I've no experience of pinned joints in animals but I had one for 15 years after a Rugby injury.
The knee started playing up so the pin was removed as a precaution, a small Op under local anaesthetic.

Waste of time really as it didn't make the knee any better or worse!

From what I gathered at the time, the pin is only there to support the joint while the tissues heal, it serves no real purpose if the healing has been successful or does it usually cause any problems... so they generally leave them in place.

I'm sure that some must work loose on occasion but I don't know how common it is?
Assuming the things work the same in us & dogs then I can't see why Leo should have any problems after what is a very minor Op... keep an eye on the infection though.

Dunno if any of that helps at all

Waterfalls

occasionally pins can work there way loose, but it doesnt happen often. one the healing process is complete, the implants are no longer required but as they dont usually cause any harm, its not worth putting your pets under another unaesthetic inorder to remove them - unless there is a problem like your experiencing or the pet is very young and still has more growing to do

pulliptears

small update. The pin is well and truly fused to the bone in one end so it couldn't be removed afterall. They have tightened the loose part, washed out the leg and restitched. He was apparently in surgery for some time and they didn't wan't to keep him under any longer. 2 vets tried and failed to get the pin out so it was decided it was best to leave it.

The leg is very arthritic though so he will always suffer. Mum is incredibly relieved and we should have the little man home tomorrow.

cavework

Our rescue dog is going in tomorrow morning to have the bone plate and screws removed.
She is now 12 months old and the leg has healed The fracture was plated 4 months ago and was recovering nicely when suddenly one day she stood up and started limping.The leg has become stiffer and stiffer
and she is using it less and less in the past few weeks . Despite 5 xrays (the bone is healed and no problem with hips) we are still not sure what is going on but the Vet has advised we remove the plate.
Apparently there can be problems with young dogs as the bones are still growing, muscle and ligament can become attached and shorten, infection can occur at any time and the place where the screws are is always susceptable to another fracture.
There is also a small risk of bone cancer.
This only happens in a few instances. The chances of arthritis are also increased.
I have spent a lot of time googling and it seems in America they tend to do follow up xrays as standard procedure in cases like yours and often remove plates when a fracture has occured as is our case.
I 'm glad it's been sorted.
x

pulliptears

Thanks hun.

He's home, feeling a bit sorry for himself but hopefully the issue wont reoccur. The pin is with him for life now, just hopefully it wont work loose again. He's got a few stitches and is a bit sore but he's eaten this morning and is currently snoring away in front of the fire.

Mum is happy again now. He's her constant companion since Dad died and I don't know what she'd do without him to be honest. £316 so far though eeek!