My dog broke his front leg. Is surgery always required for a fracture?

Usually surgery is necessary in order to make sure the fracture heals properly in the correct position. It is also necessary to set the fracture under anesthesia as the muscles contract and it would be way too painful and difficult to put the bones back in the right place with the dog being awake. It is almost impossible to put a functioning cast on a humerus fracture, which is another reason for surgical fracture repair.

They can definitely heal on their own and they heal especially well with puppies. However, it may heal at an angle, which can cause a life-long limp and issues with arthritis. This particular fracture involves the growth plate, which can increase the possibility that it won't heal correctly. The advantage of surgery is that the fracture can be aligned appropriately, which will shorten healing time and reduce chances of future complications. This would not be an easy surgery though and would likely require an orthopedic specialist to do it; which can get quite expensive. If you want to pursue surgery, then it's best to ask your veterinarian for a referral to an orthopedic specialist. Otherwise it's possible for it to heal fine with casting/splinting and time. I hope that helps and Ice gets better soon.

Hello, and thanks for your question on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I have to defer your question about Leo specifically to the vet who is treating him and took the x-rays, since they will have access to all the information from his exam that I don't have, but I can tell you that in general I do not usually recommend casts or screws for broken toes. Most of the time broken toes heal very well with strict rest alone, especially in young patients. The "strict rest" is very important - I usually encourage owners to use a crate as much as possible until the bone forms a callous and stabilizes the fracture. The best way to evaluate for a tail fracture is with an additional x-ray, but again the tail is another area that usually heals well with rest and pain control. However, if the foot fracture was due to a bite wound, it is important to make sure that the pain isn't related to an infection, which would require oral antibiotics to treat. I hope this helps!

I am so sorry to hear about Brandy but happy that she seems to be doing well. Your options will really depend on the type/severity of the break. Some breaks can heal if bandaged/splinted without surgery if the bones are aligned well enough. If that is the case, you may be able to manage her under supervision of your vet with strict confinement and pain management and regular rechecking. If the leg is shattered into too many fragments for the leg to heal this way, you may have to make the tough decision of going ahead with surgery knowing that there is a risk. Even though she is an older dog, if she is otherwise healthy and has no known kidney/liver/heart disease she may do fine with surgery as long as she has good monitoring during anesthesia and supportive care after. If your vet isn't comfortable with this you may ask for a referral to a hospital that does more surgeries or a veterinary college that handles this type of case.

That looks like a pretty nasty fracture. My first recommendation would be orthopedic surgery. The surgeon may recommend plates or other devices to get the bone back in alignment so that it can heal. If that is not an option in your area, then amputation would be my next recommendation. Due to the location, a cast or splint will not provide enough stabilization to allow the edges of the bone to knit back together. If the bones can be re-aligned, a hobble can be attempted, but the failure rate is quite high.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sadly that type of fracture should be treated surgically. There is are tendons that attach there and a tension band wire is needed for an avulsion fracture of the olecranon. I would suspect it will not heal. If it has been 3 weeks you should have another X-ray taken to see how it is doing. I wish you the best!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Max! Sadly the X-ray pictures didn’t attach. Personally I would recommend surgical repair of a fracture of the humerus. Please feel free to repost with pictures. I wish Max the best!