The Catastrophe

Billy was only young. For quite some time now he had been lame on his left front leg. Mum and dad thought he would grow out of it but it was getting worse not better. Billy was starting to limp quite badly for a dog that was only six months of age.

Dr Rob checked him over and he seemed to have a lot of pain in his left shoulder. Dr Rob recommended X-rays.

The Diagnosis

X-rays of Billy’s shoulder showed that he had an OCD lesion in his left shoulder on the surface of the humeral head. It was quite a large lesion and had become displaced from the subchondral bone which was why Billy was limping so badly.

Basically Billy had a massive crack in his shoulder joint that had turned into a “pot hole” in the joint. He needed surgery. Luckily for Billy the lesion appeared to be in only one leg. Often this disease will be bilateral ie both legs.

The Repair

Dr Rob had to operate on Billy’s shoulder. This is an intraarticular surgery where the surgeon has to explore the joint and remove the damaged cartilaginous fragment.

Essentially osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is where the cartilage does not stick to the bone and chips away like old paint from a wall. The cartilage cracks and factures and separates from the bone leaving a hole in the surface of the joint. The cartilage can break up into a joint mouse which is floating cartilage that gets in between the bones of the joint and feels a bit like having a rock in your shoe. It is very painful and has to be removed.

Dr Rob removed the fragment and curetted away the dead bone. The deficit will fill with fibrocartilage and Billy will do well because we made the diagnosis very early before arthritis had developed. Billy never looked back after his surgery and was no longer lame. Accurate diagnosis and early intervention is critical to successfully manage osteochondritis dissecans.

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