Surgeons must be very careful
When they take the knife!
Underneath their fine incisions
Stirs the Culprit — Life!~Emily Dickinson
Our canis major is in surgery # 1 today, Tufts Foster Hospital. The following article describes what I think Dr. Robert McCarthy plans to do to him, including the separation of Ahab’s biceps tendon (same thing John Elway had done) and reattachment a bit lower.
From Reduction and stabilisation of a supraglenoid tuberosity avulsion under arthroscopic guidance in a dog by A.J. Deneuche and E. Viguier in The Journal of Small Animal Practice, 31 July 2002:
A supraglenoid tuberosity avulsion fracture was diagnosed in a five-month-old dog [Department of Surgery, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort, Maisons-Alfort, France], which was presented with a non-weightbearing lameness of the right forelimb after being involved in a road traffic accident. Arthroscopy allowed associated cartilaginous, capsular and ligamentotendinous injuries to be ruled out. The fracture was reduced and stabilised under arthroscopic guidance using a Kirschner wire and a cortical bone screw. Video assistance significantly minimised the extent of the necessary craniomedial approach. The lameness was very mild 15 days after surgery and had disappeared after four weeks. Radiographs taken nine weeks postoperatively revealed complete bone healing and implants were removed. No lameness was reported during a follow-up period of 20 months. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report describing shoulder osteosynthesis under arthroscopic guidance in the dog. The mildly invasive character of arthroscopy and video-assisted surgical procedures may allow a faster recovery and may limit complications following the treatment of articular fractures.
After some healing right around Sirius, he’ll go back in for what looks like something more than total hip replacement surgery to fix the mess that a mysterious accident made of his whole pelvic structure at least 2-3 years ago.
