Facts for Case Four


Hypothesis 1- Multifactorial: fracture, muscle damage, and shock

* Dog was hit by a car 3 days ago and will not put weight on his hind legs.
* Ramon is non-weight bearing on both hind legs.
* He has superficial and deep pain sensation in both legs and the tail / perineum.
* Motor function is present in both hind legs and the tail, but weight bearing was not attempted.
* Ramon has superficial skin abrasions on the lateral side of the R hind leg. The leg is swollen distal to the stifle. The L hind leg is swollen all the way down to the toes.
* There is palpable instability of the bone of the R tibia. The tibia does not appear to be continuous in the midshaft area. The joints of the R hind leg appear to be norma
* The upper L hind leg is very swollen and bone continuity of the upper femur is suspect because of abnormal movement of the limb and occasional crepitation.
* The source of these abnormalities could not be precisely localized to the femur, the hip joint or the pelvis.
* The bones and joints of the remainder of the leg appear to be intact and normal apart from diffuse subcutaneous fluid accumulation.

Hypothesis 2 - Fracture

* He was hit by a car 3 days ago and has been at another vet since then.
* Ramon is non-weight bearing on both hind legs.
* He has superficial and deep pain sensation in both legs and the tail / perineum.
* Motor function is present in both hind legs and the tail, but weight bearing was not attempted.
* Reflex responses in the hind legs are difficult to evaluate because the responses are inconsistent and are not repetitive.
* The upper L hind leg is very swollen and bone continuity of the upper femur is suspect because of abnormal movement of the limb and occasional crepitation.
* The source of these abnormalities could not be precisely localized to the femur, the hip joint or the pelvis.
* The bones and joints of the remainder of the leg appear to be intact and normal apart from diffuse subcutaneous fluid accumulation.

Hypothesis 3 - Muscle Damage

* He was hit by a car 3 days ago and has been at another vet since then.
* He has superficial and deep pain sensation in both legs and the tail / perineum.
* Ramon has superficial skin abrasions on the lateral side of the R hind leg. The leg is swollen distal to the stifle. The L hind leg is swollen all the way down to the toes.
* The upper L hind leg is very swollen from diffuse subcutaneous fluid accumulation
* The source of these abnormalities could not be precisely localized to the femur, the hip joint or the pelvis.