Purdue University Veterinary Hospital<\/a>\u2019s Small Animal Emergency Service, where x-rays revealed she had shattered the bone that is the canine equivalent of a right elbow.
As it turned out, Luna\u2019s injury involved a silent condition that had been brewing in her elbow for years. That condition is known as HIF (humeral intercondylar fissure) \u2013 a disorder that occurs when the individual parts of the humerus (the upper bone in the front leg) fail to fuse together during the normal growth that occurs in puppyhood. If the degree of failure is severe enough, the bone can break, even with just normal activity. This condition is seen in large and medium sized breeds of dogs and, as in Luna\u2019s case, may not show itself until adulthood, often with catastrophic consequences.
At the Purdue Veterinary Hospital, the Emergency Service veterinarians consulted with Dr. Mark Rochat, one of Purdue\u2019s small animal orthopedic surgeons, who recommended surgery to repair the fracture. \u201cElbow fractures are challenging because of the shape of the bone and the need for perfect alignment to minimize the arthritis that can develop after this type of fracture,\u201d explained Dr. Rochat, who is a professor in the College of Veterinary Medicine\u2019s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences. \u201cTo compound the challenges facing Luna, fractures that result from HIF are often slow to heal because of the abnormal nature of the bone that led to the HIF. Fortunately, our college has bone plates and screws that are specifically made for this scenario.\u201d
Dr. Rochat notes that Arthrex, a company that makes products for human orthopedic surgery, also strongly supports the veterinary orthopedic community. \u201cVeterinary surgeons have often had to use generic straight bone plates, even in areas of the skeleton where they don\u2019t fit well,\u201d Dr. Rochat said. \u201cThankfully, Arthrex recently introduced anatomic-specific plates, including one made just for this situation.\u201d
Luna underwent surgery the next day. The Purdue Veterinary Hospital\u2019s orthopedic surgery team, with the assistance of the anesthesia team, repaired her fracture with a distal humeral plate and screws. Following surgery, Luna underwent several physical therapy sessions with the rehabilitation team to help restore her elbow\u2019s normal range of motion.
The result was like a new lease on life for Luna as well as Officer Knogge and his family. \u201cThe care and compassion that my family and I received from the moment Luna arrived at the hospital was second to none,\u201d Officer Knogge said. \u201cEveryone we came into contact with showed their concern for our Luna.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nDr. Rochat added, \u201cNow, several months later, Luna\u2019s fracture has healed, leaving her little to show for her misadventure except for a cool looking scar. Now Luna is fine and back at work helping keep the citizens of Tippecanoe County safe.\u201d
For Officer Knogge and his family, the gratitude is heartfelt. \u201cThe surgical team\u2026. WOW\u2026. Second to none!!! Total Rockstars. They have Luna back to her new normal and we are back on the street making that difference,\u201d Officer Knogge said. \u201cTHANK YOU ALL!!!!!!\u201d
And thank you to Office Knogge, his family and Tippecanoe County Community Corrections for the honor of treating Luna, the Rockstar K-9!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Luna, a K-9 officer with Tippecanoe County Community Corrections, suddenly faced a career-threatening injury earlier this year when a hidden bone condition caused her elbow to shatter. Thanks to the expert surgical and rehabilitation care she received at the Purdue University Veterinary Hospital, Luna has made a full recovery and is back on duty, helping keep her community safe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,28,27],"tags":[2281,69,1983,67],"class_list":["post-31031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hospitals","category-our-impact","category-services","tag-client-success","tag-orthopedic","tag-orthopedic-surgery","tag-small-animal-hospital"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31031"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31091,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31031\/revisions\/31091"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31032"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vet.purdue.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}