Page 2 - Clinical Connections - Spring 2023

RVC RESEARCH STUDY VETERINARY SERVICES RVC.AC.UK
Frida’s owners were given a graded
exercise programme for her upon discharge.
This started with five-minute walks on a
short lead three or four times a day for the
first two weeks before then slowly increasing
to 20-minute walks at five to eight weeks
postoperatively.
The referring vets removed the
cystostomy tube a few days following
discharge. She returned to her local vets
two weeks after discharge from the RVC for
wound assessment and staple removal.

Progress
She returned to the QMHA for re-
examination at the end of August. Frida’s
owners had been following the exercise
plan well and she was making a good
recovery. Her owners reported that around
once a week a mild fleeting weakness in A ventrodorsal pelvic radiograph showing
her right pelvic limb occurred. However, on multiple pelvic fractures, including a long
examination Frida was ambulating well with oblique right ilial body fracture with concurrent A ventrodorsal pelvic radiograph showing
repair of the right ilial body fracture with a
fractures of the right and left pubis, right
no appreciable lameness. ischial shaft and left ischial table. plate and screws.
She tolerated palpation of the implants
well. Examination under sedation was More recently, Frida’s family got in touch the veterinary surgeons was brilliant. We
unremarkable, with good range of motion to update the teams who treated her. Owner had daily phone updates from Dr Matthew
in both hips. Follow-up radiographs showed Nancy McCartney said: “The teams at the Simpson, who was just fantastic, which kept
healing of her ilial fracture with no implant RVC were completely fantastic from day- us in the loop about Frida’s progress.
concerns. Frida’s exercise was then allowed one. They were kind, understanding, and “Frida spent the first few weeks at home
to be gradually increased back to normal explained everything to us in as much detail getting back to eating and sleeping. She
and she was signed off by the QMHA teams. as we needed. The communication from had lost a lot of weight post-accident –
from 4.4kg to 3.5kg. She slowly gained
confidence in walking small distances and
her personality definitely came back. Over
the months she has improved beyond our
wildest dreams. She is pretty much as she
was pre-accident. She loves nothing more
than chasing her ball on the beach down in
Devon and snuggling up under the blanket
on the sofa. Considering the position we
found ourselves in in June 2022, we cannot
thank the amazing team at RVC enough.”
Matt Simpson, ECVS Surgical Resident,
commented: “We have really enjoyed
hearing about Frida’s progress from her
owners – she’s such a resilient little dog!
"The case was a multidisciplinary
collaboration between different specialist
teams, including Soft Tissue and
Orthopaedic Surgery and Critical Care, with
veterinary specialists, residents, registered
veterinary nurses and veterinary patient
care assistants from across different teams
all working together to help Frida.”

For small animal referrals, please call:
01707 666399
Email:
Frida, back at home after the accident and recovery qmhreception@rvc.ac.uk

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2 Spring 2023