Dr. Phil Zeltzman’s Blog
Shattered femur causes problems for German Shepherd
Harper, a 6 month old female German Shepherd, had a small problem.
Lots of small problems actually.
Her femur, or thigh bone, was shattered. You can see two large pieces at the break, and multiple small pieces in the middle.
I performed a surgical repair at Berks Animal and Emergency Center & Referral Center, using 1 pin, 2 wires, 9 screws, a stainless steel plate, and a bone graft! You can see the fractures and the repairs in the x-ray images below.
After 6 weeks of strict confinement, it was time to play in the snow!
 A view of the femur, immediately before surgery. |
 Another preop view of the femur. |
 Here is Harper immediately after surgery. |
 A lateral post-surgical view. |
 An x-ray six weeks after surgery. |
 Six weeks after surgery, Harper’s x-rays look much better! |
Dr. Phil Zeltzman is a traveling veterinary surgeon in Pennsylvania & New Jersey. An award-winning author, he loves to share his adventures in practice along with information about vet medicine and surgery that can really help your pets. Dr. Zeltzman specializes in orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries for dogs, cats, and small exotics. By working with local family vets, he offers the best surgical care, safest anesthesia, and utmost pain management to all his patients. Sign up to get an email when he updates his blog, and follow him on Facebook, too!