Problem post TPLO - Long

[lovearottie]

My 2 1/2 yr old neutered male, Butkus, had TPLO surgery on his left leg 3 weeks ago. He is recovering beautifully from the TPLO itself, but came home with an ugly, small wound under his left front leg. When I called the vet, I was passed to the physical therapist and was told that it was a common occurance, caused by the EKG monitor lead, and I should expect it to 'get worse before it gets better'. He said to use Neosporin on it and to apply warm, moist compresses on the area, which I did. Yet the wound got MUCH worse, and last Saturday (2 weeks post-op) I took him in to see the vet so that she could see what I was talking about. Let me add at this point that Butkus had been to the office for pt several times. The vet wasn't in, but the night tech thought it looked really bad and thought it might need stitches. By this time, the wound was about 3 1/2" long and about 1/2" deep, angry-looking, red and oozing, PLUS the surrounding area was chafed, matted. . I got an appt for the following Monday with the vet. She tells me that she can't explain what happened but the hypothesis is that the EKG lead got some kind of short from the 'ground plate' that was attached to Butkus during surgery. She gave him a 'potent' antibiotic cream to be applied twice a day, which I have done. The wound doesn't seem to be getting any better and it's 4 days later. He is still on oral antibotics from the surgery.

My question is, has anyone else had any problem like this? And if so, did it finally clear up? And if you had to have both legs done, like we have to do, did it occur with the 2nd surgery, too? I hate to see my big boy hurt more by this that he was by the surgery!

I'm sorry for the length of this, but I need some advice....Thanks.

[frontierrots]

It sounds like he needs an oral antibotic as well

Many skin infections require both oral and topical antibiotics to get cleared up

I would call the vet's officagain and tell them it is not improving and can they prescribe an oral antibiotic for him

[moondog]

Diane, she does say he is already on an oral antibiotic in addition to the topical.

Is this a burn type injury? If so, colloidal silver applied topically is commonly used by hospitals for burn patients as it is very effective in keeping infection at bay which in turns helps the tissue heal.

[frontierrots]

Sorry missed that part. dumb cats got me up at3am by tearing up and down the hall making the dogs bark

That is very strange that it's not healing... I agree with the collodial silver if you can find it. You can also try aloe which is good for wounds and burns

[2rotties2luv]

Perhaps a change to a different oral antibiotic is needed as well.

[Patty1231]

If your vets office is open today or tomorrow I'd take him in without an appointment. I think you would be well within your rights to demand to be seen by a vet immediately since it is a wound resulting from his surgery. It also sounds very nasty and something, if it were my dog, I would demand be taken care of before Monday. Good luck.

[lovearottie]

Thanks, guys, for your posts...Patty, my visit was this past Monday and I thought maybe I wasn't giving the cream enough time to work. But I'm more than a little ticked at everyone at the vet's because they don't seem to be concerned enough.

I didn't think of aloe even tho I use that on myself all the time. I just called my husband to have him call the vet's office, maybe a man complaining will get more response than an over-protective mama! At least I know from you fellow rottie lovers that this isn't a normal thing.

I'll keep you posted, and any other suggestions anyone has will be most appreciated.

[MARYDVM]

I think you have a right to be upset - this injury is not an expected risk for the surgery. And they should be paying more attention to your concerns. A severe enough burn may need to have the dying tissue removed surgically (debrided) before it will start to heal. There is an esophageal probe that can have the EKG leads hooked to it during surgery, so that nothing is clamped onto the dog's skin. If the clinic doesn't have one, ask them how they plan to monitor your dog during the next surgery since you will not give them permission to use the malfunctioning unit on him again.

[Patty1231]

Originally Posted by lovearottie

She tells me that she can't explain what happened but the hypothesis is that the EKG lead got some kind of short from the 'ground plate' that was attached to Butkus during surgery.

If you can get that in writing you may be looking at free services, at least for everything related to this surgery.