Archives: Conditions

The tibial endoprosthesis is a limb sparing surgery that replaces a section of bone affected by a bone tumour to prevent the need for full limb amputation. The endoprosthesis completely replaces the section of bone affected by cancer and bridges the gap between the top and bottom of the dog’s leg to allow near normal use of the limb.

A PerFiTS is a uniquely designed prosthetic implant incorporating an endoprosthesis and exoprosthesis, which avoids full-limb amputation in cases of limb malformation, tumour or trauma to provide your dog or cat with a fully functional limb. 

Total knee replacement involves cutting out the whole of the diseased knee joint and replacing this with a prosthetic joint, the surgery is very similar to that carried out in humans.

Total shoulder replacement is an advanced surgical procedure and should only be performed by experienced orthopaedic surgeons. It involves cutting out the whole of the diseased shoulder joint and replacing it with a custom-made total shoulder implant.

Limb sparing surgery reduces the need for full amputation of a limb in the presence of a tumour, deformity or major trauma, and allows the animal to retain normal function of the limb. Fitzpatrick Referrals offers two options; a radial or tibial endoprosthesis and a PerFiTS.

The word “dysplasia” means “abnormality of development”. Hip dysplasia is a canine genetic condition in which there is a tendency towards development of hip laxity early in life. Hip dysplasia is not congenital because affected dogs are born with morphologically normal hips.

The cranial cruciate ligament is a band of tough tissue in the stifle (knee) that runs from the femur (thigh bone) to the tibia (shin bone), preventing the tibia from sliding forward and therefore stabilises the knee.

The patella (kneecap) is a small bone that sits within the tendon of the quadriceps muscle (large thigh muscle) – the tendon crosses the knee in the front and attaches on the tuberosity (bony bump) of the tibia (shin bone). The patella acts as a fulcrum during extension of the knee; it glides up and down within a groove on the front of the femur (thigh bone), which is part of the knee. In some dogs, the patella luxates (dislocates) out of this groove.

Cervical spondylomyelopathy, commonly referred to as wobbler syndrome, is a disease of the spine within the neck, resulting in poor transmission of nerve signals between the brain and the body.

There can be various morphological problems of the bones of the neck in affected dogs.

Lumbosacral disease involves degeneration of the lumbosacral junction and/or compression of the associated nerves.

The lumbosacral joint is one of the highest-motion joints of the spine. As a result, it is uniquely predisposed to degenerative (wear-and-tear) diseases that are similar to the diseases causing lower back pain in humans.

The word “dysplasia” means “abnormality of development”. The elbow is a complex joint because it involves the articulation of three bones. If the three bones do not fit together absolutely perfectly as a result of abnormal development, the consequence is abnormal concentration of forces on a specific region of the elbow joint.

Osteochondrosis is a developmental condition that arises due to a disturbance in the normal differentiation of cartilage cells resulting in failure of endochondral ossification (an essential process during development of the skeletal system resulting in bone formation).